Monsters Like Us
by Arabella Nadie
Summary: FINISHED! SEQUEL COMING SOON When Natasha starts to feel like the lone wolf of the Avengers, she literally finds a lone wolf. The new member on the team is a mutant named Milena (a genetic experiment gone rogue) who's trying to readjust to human life, become a superhero, and deal with whatever feelings she's trying to ignore about a certain redheaded assassin.
1. Chapter 1

Natasha had a place to live but she didn't have a home. Of course, "home" wasn't all that a familiar concept to the assassin who, ironically, dedicated her life to saving others, but her lifestyle choice wasn't exactly stress-free or comforting either. With the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. the widow had been left unemployed for the running time of about five seconds before Tony (through the coaxing and ideas of Pepper) swept in and offered her residence and employment at the new Avengers Tower in New York. It surprised Natasha at first that the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist willingly shared the spotlight with other people with the renaming of his precious monument in the city skyline. It almost made her feel... out of place. The Russian spy was comfortable with pretty much anything thrown at her, but adapting to the new environment and having her secrets spilled out for the world to see made adjusting a tad bit difficult for her.

Despite the newborn critics and, surprisingly, fans of the female avenger that arose after she helped take down Hydra, Natasha still managed to remain one of the most mysterious members of the group. She definitely didn't sunbathe beneath the public eye like Tony did. She was rather pale actually. So she spent most of her time doing what was familiar to her: going on missions and kicking ass. It was slightly different this time, however, as she returned back to her apartment in the Avengers Tower with all of her teammates. She supposed that she was able to call them all "friends" now, as they saw each other nearly everyday and enjoyed each others company outside of work. Clint and Natasha even got into an ongoing prank war with Tony. The two spies would crawl through the vents and sabotage Stark's business meetings with whatever harmless gases or computer viruses they could think of. It became almost like a recreation for the two.

But then life started to change again for Natasha. She found herself alone in the tower more and more often than not. After all, Clint did have a wife and kids he longed to spend time with and Thor wasn't exactly a permanent resident of Earth so to speak. Tony got to get away with Pepper every now and then, and even Steve had ended up calling that nurse. Bruce stayed at home for days at a time, but specifically for research in the labs, so he wasn't exactly in the same situation as Natasha.

She would never admit to anybody that she was lonely though; it just wasn't in her nature. Clint began to catch on, though. He noticed how she spent more hours training than anything else. Even when she wasn't on missions she could be found in the training rooms shooting at targets or kicking the ass of whatever poor agent either volunteered or was forced to get beat up by her. She was addicted entirely to training and she didn't know how to stop.

"Maybe she just needs a hobby," Tony suggested one day when Clint brought up the subject. "Oooohh, like knitting. Spiders are usually good at that right?"

"One problem," Natasha's voice came from the doorway where she stood with her arms crossed and glaring at Clint. "I don't knit."

Clint sighed before getting up from his chair to jog after her. "Nat," he called as she began to march down the hallway. "Nat, you can't walk away from this."

"You think I'm burying myself in work because I don't have a life," she turned suddenly to face him, catching him off guard for a second.

"Well," the archer thought about which words he was going to choose as he saw her staring him down with her intensely green eyes. "Yes, but Natasha I think it's important that you try to-"

"I know exactly what you're trying to do, Barton. So I'm going to tell you right here and right now. Don't. I don't need you to sign me up for some pottery classes, or book club, or-"

"How about dog sitting?" Tony piped up from behind the two.

Both of the assassins turned to look at Stark. He was holding a cellphone in his hand and appeared to be watching something very amusing, though Natasha was sure it wasn't supposed to be.

"Stark, what the hell are you-"

"No, I'm serious. Here, watch this video Fury just sent me," he replied trying to sound as innocent as possible. "Personally, I think its hilarious. Hey! He should post this to YouTube. I hear that puppy videos are trending right now. Honestly, I'm more a kitten eating watermelon video type of guy, but this puppy stuff is golden."

Natasha snatched the phone out of Tony's hands and pressed the play button on the screen. It was a video of at least three-dozen agents in a semi-circle trying to surround this giant creature backed up in a corner. The animal crouched low to the ground and bore its teeth aggressively at the heavily armed wall of men surrounding it. It was a wolf. There was no sound to the video, but Natasha was sure that the wild canine was growling at the agents as it looked like it was ready to pounce onto them. The wolf was rather large and had unnatural coating. It was a deep black color with bronze stripes running down its back. The beast suddenly broke away from Natasha's focus as it leaped onto an agent and dug its teeth into his throat with such precision that one of the man's carotid arteries must have been hit and he died instantly. It then continued to butcher another ten or so soldiers in a matter of merely five seconds through a series of complex tackles, claws, and bites targeting and hitting specific areas of the body that all caused them to drop out cold. Never before had Natasha seen a wild creature use such human techniques to massacre heavily armed and trained agents. There was a lot of blood everywhere as the wolf finished off the last standing man. He had tried to shoot at the creature, but somehow it was immune to the bullets or either absorbed them, which surprised Natasha. Either way, the wolf was extremely pissed off and immediately beheaded the poor man with its already-bloody fangs. As the video slowed down and the wolf began to casually clean its bloody paws off, Natasha could only stare in horror and awe. There was something unnatural and disturbing about what she had just seen and she had a feeling that Tony was kidding about this dog sitting thing.

"I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that I'm allergic to dogs," Romanoff sarcastically sighed.

It was exactly a week later and Fury was giving the agent a debriefing on her new assignment, as suggested by Tony, for "dog sitting" as he had put it.

"You and I both know that your health records say otherwise," Fury rebutted clearly unamused. Technically he was no longer the director of anything and he was also "dead", but Nicholas Joseph Fury was still very much one of the most influential men in the world and he had connections. And when he came to Stark with an idea in mind for a new "project", he couldn't turn the challenge down. His response was actually rather sadistic and involved something about "finding Banner a new playmate". And if he was then able to get some misery out of Natasha at the same time? Tony was definitely in. It was the perfect plot for revenge after months and months of her and Barton's little pranks.

"Didn't know spiders were afraid of dogs," Clint teased Natasha. She had forced him to come with her as he had been the one with the idea of finding Natasha a hobby.

Fury almost gave a crooked smile as he stopped in front of a glass viewing window and crossed his arms. "Lucky for you, Romanoff, you'll find this mutt to be rather human."

Natasha's eyes wavered over what Fury was speaking of. It was a girl. Strapped down in a hospital bed and quite unconscious was a human girl with no wolf-like features to be seen. Her face laid at a slight angle so that most of her profile could be studied. She supposed that the girl would be classified as petite, as her feet poked through the bedsheets leaving a foot of space between the end of her body and the back of the bed. Natasha thought she was no more than eighteen. Her face was also rather small and seemed to be swallowed up by the massive amount of thick, brownish-black hair spreading itself on her pillow freely. Her nose was small and angular and curved slightly upward from what she could tell. She had a light medium complexion, but it didn't appear to be her natural skin tone. Natasha guessed that it was an acquired tan or perhaps something else. She had small eyelids hidden by the shadows of her thick eyebrows that really framed her face. Her jaw and chin were chiseled and pointed, but not in an overly masculine way, and she had rather high cheekbones that seemed to lift her face up, making her look calmer than she actually was. Natasha could tell her sleep was restless. The girl's body shook as if she were trying to wake herself up. Her nostrils even flared every few seconds to take in deep, desperate breaths of air.

"Milena Telivola," Fury began to introduce the girl and he handed both Natasha and Clint two papers. "Twenty-two-years-old, born in rural Ohio, orphaned at age six, adopted at age thirteen by Gerard and Mary Burns. The couple, along with their newly adopted daughter, moved to Ukraine only two weeks after the adoption. The happy couple were two scientists who specialized in genetic mutations and cloning. They were wanted in Australia for inhumane experimentation on their household pets."

"Well it doesn't sound like a happy ending for this one," Clint muttered to the red head as they flipped through the papers. Most of them offered very little information: mainly blurry, homemade pictures of a giant black wolf hunting through the forest. There were even some news articles of wolf attacks where whole families were slaughtered.

"The couple presumed a new identity in the United States before adopting Telivola," Fury continued and Natasha looked back up at the sleeping girl. Her hand patted at her nose as if it was itching and her eyes furrowed making her look like a confused little puppy. The assassin's head tilted slightly to the side as she studied the young wolf girl. "For two years, Gerard and Mary Burns performed extreme experiments on her with the nucleic acids of Canis lupus that should have put them all in critical conditions. The experimentation took place not too far outside of Chernobyl, where a radioactive reactor core exploded back in 1986, but there was still nuclear radiation present."

"So the Burns's wolf DNA they introduced to her body along with the longterm exposure to the radiation created the disaster that we have here," the spy concluded and she held up a picture that forensics had taken of forty mauled agents' bodies laid out on a blanket of the forest floor. She had one eyebrow raised at Fury and Clint let out a barely audible chuckle.

"Our intelligence is quite certain that Milena Telivola underwent a transformation similar to Banner's that changed her into her 'alter ego form' and she used that to escape captivity. She's been living in the wild for nearly seven years in her other form before we stepped in. The civilian casualty death rate got too high to ignore, and as you could already tell, she's not exactly your normal howling pup."

Natasha had to nod her head in agreement at that. The intel provided enough information for her to conclude that the girl possessed some human instincts and intelligence in her other form. That's why she was able to take down forty armed agents with the precision that took her years to perfect in the Red Room. And yet, she didn't know if she felt more intrigued or intimidated by this.

"How did you take her out?" Clint finally questioned the eyepatched man who's one eye studied the tossing girl.

He chuckled a bit at this before answering, "We sent in Rogers and 250 tranquilizer darts filled with specially treated azaperone. According to Banner, it takes a whole lot more than a few bullets to take out this bitch. Her mutation makes her skin almost impervious to any weaponry we have, but after Rogers beat her around a bit with his shield he was able to pass the darts through a more... susceptible area on the body."

"I won't ask..."

"So she's human again for the first time in seven years," Natasha's mind raced with what she was dealing with. It was easy to say that she had never dealt with a situation quite like this before, and she still wasn't completely sure what Fury wanted her to do.

The director nodded. "'We're not even sure if she can comprehend English or even simple human tasks."

"But you want her on the Avengers," Clint threw out the statement that caused even the widow to turn and look at him in mild surprise. "We're already a sour combination of monsters and mutants, so what's one more? You clearly see her as an asset, or else you wouldn't go through so much trouble and put so many agents on the line. What else would you want her for? Our mascot?"

Natasha's hands balled into fists instinctively. She had worked under Fury for years and cried for the man when she thought he was dead. The relationship between the two was something she could never see coming, but she had eventually come to a deep respect and care for the man behind the eyepatch. Yeah, she was used to him and his secrets, as they were inevitable, but this one got her adrenaline running through her warm, pumping veins. She was on high alert now but stood still.

Fury simply shrugged and nodded with his lips pressed together. "Well, like you said, Barton. What's one more?"


	2. Chapter 2

Natasha had seen more... lively work...

It had been two days since she had first set her eyes on the slumbering, lethal wolf girl and she still had not woken up. And... that was it...  
She had been assigned to a job similar to the one that had first involved Steve and the helicarrier introduction a few years back. She had to reintroduce this girl to the world and maybe even teach her how to use a fork again. Natasha had no idea why she was chosen; there were clearly more qualified agents for this sort of work and she wasn't the most comforting person to be around. She was there to get the job done, not build up a relationship with this girl who hadn't even been a human girl for a third of her lifetime. But maybe that's what Fury wanted. Perhaps Clint had talked to him about his whole "Natasha needs a hobby" idea and he had somehow translated that into "Natasha needs a companion".

Even though Natasha had grown to be friends with the rest of her teammates, which brought her out of her habitual solitude, she was still very much an independent fighter. She saw dog sitting duty as a waste of her time and talent. She should be out on missions, not waiting for a mutt girl to wake up so she could personally pat her head and scoop up her poop. It was insulting to say the least; she hated it, but still didn't oppose Fury entirely. Once he had his mind set there wasn't much even she could do.

Tony, however, found the entire situation to be hilarious of course. He bought Natasha a dog collar and leash (pink and bedazzled) and even filled her apartment to the brim with dog toys and food just to rub her wrong. Needless to say, Tony didn't exactly enjoy his next meal... Natasha had put a little bit of something in his food when the whole team got together that night for dinner; Tony spent most of that time in the bathroom...

For the past two days Natasha had literally locked herself up in the training room as she awaited to take on her next task. The assassin annihilated dummies and took out punching bags every hour on the hour. She didn't exactly know how to stop or why she felt this way. Natasha was a world class spy and master assassin, so why did this simple task Fury had given her make her so... uncomfortable?... She guessed that Clint would suspect that too. He knew her too well honestly, but she would never say anything to him. He knew that as well, so as he watched the redhead drown confide herself in the training room he could only watch and hope that the damn girl would wake up soon.

"Agent Romanoff," Jarvis suddenly interrupted her circuit and Natasha brought down her fists. "Miss Telivola has awoken and Nicholas Fury requests your presence there. He says it's urgent."

Natasha thanked Jarvis before commanding him to unlock the training room doors. As she stepped out she swiftly grabbed Clint by the elbow and began to drag him along towards the elevator.

"Woah, woah," he tried to dig his heels into the ground and slow down. "Tash, you really gotta learn how to be more gentle. Puppies are delicate you know."

She jerked her head around briefly to shoot him her "don't mess with me" look and she continued to push the bird into the elevator a little bit rougher than usual. "40th floor," she commanded Jarvis and the doors closed on the two.

When she got up to the room, Telivola was still being contained in she found Fury, Tony, and Steve huddled around the viewing window. The Captain wore his battle uniform, but it was clean and his hair was still neatly parted, so she assumed that he was on his way out for a mission. "She doesn't look so bad when she's not trying to bite your arm off, huh Cap?" she could hear Tony tease at Steve as she approached the men.

"Heard you had a rough time trying to get the bitch to heel," Natasha joked with Steve as she could see a slight look of embarrassment form on his face. His cheeks turned a bit red at that.

"Romanoff, you're up," Fury called her to the door. Her task seemed simple enough: get the girl to loosen up around her and possibly introduce herself. The tranquilizer darts still lingered in effect a bit, so the girl wasn't supposed to be getting out of bed soon, but Clint was still to go in for backup. However, it was essential that Natasha went in with no weapons whatsoever. From the intel that they were given, in her other form she felt very threatened by weapons and that resulted in her attacking the men through what she saw as self-defense. Even though she currently took on her human form, they had no idea what to expect or how she would react to anything.

Natasha tried to remain calm and collected as she slowly cracked the door open and carefully stepped inside. "No sudden movements," she could hear Fury tell her through her earpiece. The other three and would be observing this encounter through the window and monitors while Bruce was supposed to be tracking the girls physical reactions and pulse changes to the meeting through the equipment she was still hooked up to.

Natasha kept her gaze low and near the edge of the girl's bed. Wild animals like wolves often felt threatened by eye contact, so she would have to work her way up to that once she got more comfortable. But the spy could feel her looking over her from the second she stepped into the dark room. After exactly a minute of silence she began to bring her head up so she could look at her face to face. What she saw almost surprised her. She had expected the girl to act very animalistic and possibly even territorial. There was no doubt that even if she was still aware of what being human was like, she would still execute strong wolf-like traits. Natasha had really expected her to meet her with fierce, glaring eyes that tried to force her to back off, so she had prepared to look back as serious as possible.

But the look on this girl's face had nothing but fear. Now that the girl was up close and awake she could better study her features. Her long black hair actually had the same bronzy caramel stripes that other form had in her fur. It was interesting though, that she still looked very human besides the natural highlights. She wasn't hairy like expected, but her hair was a bit on the tangly and untamed side. Her arms were toned, but they shook uncontrollably and she could tell that she was tensing up as a reflex to fear. When Natasha met her eyes for the first time she could see that they were almost a hazely yellow. They didn't exactly glow or sparkle, but they had a gloss to them that seemed to brighten her entire face and accentuate the yellow pupils in a flattering way. But the way her eyes widened so suddenly and her eyebrows twitched every time Natasha took in a breath made her look even smaller than she actually was. She was frightened beyond belief and probably expected Natasha to attack her at any second. Yes, she was used to people being intimidated or even scared by her, but this girl looked as if she was trying to hang onto her life as her heart nearly beat right out of her chest. She looked... helpless... And it was in the spy's instincts to use this person's helplessness as an advantage for attack, but that wasn't the mission.

Natasha had to tell herself to relax her shoulders and look as nonthreatening as possible. She tried to smile a bit and possibly ease the frightened girl into calming down. Natasha opened her lips as if she were about to say something to study how the girl would react. When she saw that the girl didn't seem like she would want to run away she began to speak. "Hello, my name is Natasha Romanoff and I understand that your name is Milena, is that right?"

No reaction. The girl continued to stare at the redhead and her eyes darted back and forth across her face like jittering little insects.

"I know that a lot of people have hurt you in the past," Natasha began to take another route in order to get this girl to trust that she wouldn't hurt her. "I know that you're frightened right now."

She blinked at the word frightened but her staring continued. She was still very tense and Natasha couldn't tell yet if the girl understood what she was saying.

"I'm here to help you... Will you let me do that?" she asked calmly.

The spy inferred that the girl could at least tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn't being threatened. Her shoulders relaxed slightly and she blinked twice at Natasha. Her yellow eyes were sharp, but seemed to gaze at her intently, so they seemed to soften at her.

Clint nudged Natasha forward by pushing her gently from behind her shoulder after Natasha still continued to stand still after a few moments. Suddenly the two jumped a bit at a low growl vibrating from across the room.

"Grrr..." a deep growl came from the bottom of the girls throat almost instantly after Clint had touched Natasha. Her opened lips revealed her upper teeth to the man in the room and the two both froze. Clint's hand almost went for the gun on his right hip, but through his earpiece he could hear Fury telling him to wait.

"Her pulse just spiked up when you moved your hand, Clint," Bruce's voice spoke in both of their ears. "But I don't think she's scared, I think she might be angry."

At first Natasha was confused and she remained still, but then Banner's theory seemed to make sense. The girl's initial reaction to the two was complete fear. She looked as if she was preparing herself to be hit, but not in a defensive way. She hadn't shown any signs of fighting back if they were to attack. In fact, the only thing she had done was cowering. It took a few seconds after that to realize that this girl's growling at them was actually directed towards Clint.

And then Tony confirmed her hypothesis. "Guys, she's angry that Barton touched Romanoff. I wouldn't blame her though, I'm 110% sure that I saw that guy leave the bathroom without washing his hands once-"

"No, no, shutup, Tony," Bruce interrupted him on the line. "I think you're right, though. She might have taken Clint's sudden movements as a threat towards Natasha and the snarling would make sense as initial reaction to that. I think she /likes/ you, Natasha."

Tony nearly died of laughter at that and Clint and Natasha could hear Steve and Fury trying to get him to shut up. "Hey, hey, you said it, Bruce, not me," he laughed.

"Romanoff, you need to proceed, but slowly. Barton stay back," Fury directed amidst Tony's uncontrollable laughter.

Natasha, still focused solely on the mission, began to take a few cautious steps towards the bed and into the unknown. 

So far dog sitting meant sitting next to a bed while a very "species confused" girl (as Tony said) stared at her and licked the palms of her hands like they were paws. So far she hadn't said a word yet, but she seemed to enjoy the sound of Natasha's voice. Natasha still didn't understand how a human who couldn't even speak or knew how to be human was going to be an asset to the team, but it had only been a few days since she had been there. The idea of a mutant wolf girl with a shield for skin beating up guys with guns wasn't the most insane idea Fury had ever had, but it certainly was something Tony could use against her. Natasha longed for the day when Tony would finally stop pestering her with comments like, "Can you imagine how adorable your wolf pups would be with your red hair and her yellow eyes?"

One particular afternoon, Melina was in a fitful sleep when Natasha entered around her usual time of day. The spy decided to pull up a chair to the side of her bed for her daily observation and planned to jot down a few notes. She was about to tell Jarvis to get someone to grab her a water, then she heard something strange.

She leaned her head in to listen more carefully to the tossing & turning girl.

"Is that... whimpering?" inquired Clint over the earpiece.

Natasha's face turned a bit pink. What the hell was a world class spy supposed to do in this situation with a whining dog? All she could do was stare with a confused look on her face at the girl who whimpered and scratched her face like a dog in her sleep. She awkwardly patted the girl's head with a flat palm before looking up into the viewing mirror to find Clint shrugging his shoulders like twelve-year-old.

"You know, when my 22-year-old mutant wolf girl whimpers like a puppy in her sleep you have to snuggle with her to stop," Tony said sarcastically through the earpiece.

"Tony," Natasha tried to say as calmly as possible. "I am not going /cuddling/ with her."

"What? Don't swing that way?"

"NO, I can't say that I do."

"Look," Tony sighed and she could see him scratching his head on the other side of the viewing window. "I know that you have used words such as 'jackass' and 'shithead' and some words in Russian I can't imagine are very polite to describe me for the past few weeks, but in all seriousness I think this could work."

"Stark-"

"No, no, just listen, okay? Listen for a second. Wolves are very physical animals: that's how they express themselves in the wild. You know, with nudging each other and rolling around playfully. It's puppy love!"

Natasha gave him an almost disgusted look. Her tolerance level had been pushed to the limit by Tony and pushing the buttons of a master in hand-to-hand-combat and sly assassination wasn't the greatest choice. Tony obviously knew this and put his hands up in surrender to prevent her from crashing through the window to choke him.

"Jarvis, get ready to deploy the suit," the words came pouring out of his mouth. "But seriously, Natasha, it could not hurt to try. Well, actually, it could hurt /you/, since you're allergic to love and affection. But, we can prescribe you medication for that I'm sure, right Jarvis."

"In all due respect, Ms. Romanoff," Jarvis chimed in. "For the experimental sake of this operation it may help at least in the slightest in an attempt to get Miss Telivola to warm up to you."

Natasha sighed and massaged the side of her temples. "And I thought you were on my side, Jarvis... What do you think, Clint?" she asked examining the restless girl a bit more. She was probably having some pretty bad nightmares and the whimpering didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Her face shined with sweat and her hair was in an even messier bundle than usual. But Natasha didn't /do/ physical affection. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time she had hugged someone. It wasn't something that she expected or even needed.

"Wow, you're actually asking for my opinion, huh?" Clint smirked. "Well, honestly I wouldn't mind seeing some girl-on-girl action."

God, he was worse than Tony. Natasha was prepared to storm out of the room and strangle the two nimrods, until she felt a light pressure hit her hand. Sure enough, Milena had rolled over in her sleep and her hand had brushed up against the redhead's. The physical encounter was brief, but a strange tingling sensation had vibrated from the spy's hand all the way up to her high shoulder and taken her aback. Natasha being trained her emotions and reactions in check had only parted her lips slightly at the unfamiliar feeling and quickly collected her thoughts. This girl had practically told Clint to back off when he simply nudged her shoulder. She supposed that if Milena was going to get close enough to trust anybody on the team it would be her. The reason why didn't strike her automatically, which bothered her a bit. Steve seemed like the nice guy you could trust and so did Banner, though he was a bit shy. But Natasha was... intimidating. She wasn't the most motherly woman in the world, but Fury had assigned her this job knowing that anyway.

Natasha cleared her thoughts. "It's just something you have to do, Romanoff," she tried talking herself into it. "Get the mission done, Romanoff. It's just a job." But then she felt warmth surge through her fingers again and looking down at her hand barely touching hers caught her very off guard. She wasn't supposed to be scared of something as this, but in all honesty it frightened her. She didn't know how to react as the girl began to paw at the assassin's porcelain white hand. She couldn't help but focus on how sensational it felt. Actually, it was the only thing she could focus on. It hypnotized her too much to not scare her.

She shook her head and blinked her eyes after what seemed like hours. "This is not happening," she whispered under her breath in Russian. She never lost focus on mission, but this girl's hand in hers made her head spin as if she'd been shot right through her skull. Before she could let herself dwell on the thought or her touch any longer she practically sprinted out of the room and down the hallway back to her room.

"Natasha!" she could hear Clint try to run after her. Tony could only watch her walk away in shock and Natasha could feel her heart warm her cheeks and her blood speed up faster and faster through her body running on adrenaline. She tried to focus on controlling her breathing, but she still felt like her hand was sucking her entirety into some disillusioned state and numbing the rest of her senses. She could hear Clint's boots against the floor in an irregular rhythm, but she was too distracted to turn around and set him off.

This time it was Clint who grabbed her by the shoulder to jerk her around. "Nat, it's a job," his voice seemed to try and pronounce out for her syllable by syllable. He was right though; she had never walked away from a job before, she was always the one to get it done. Natasha was then suddenly aware of the sensitive predicament Clint had trapped her in just now. If she said anything in her defense it would reveal that she was trying to hide something, but coming clean to Clint and admitting the truth was definitely not an option. But she knew that, ultimately, he wasn't going to let this go.

The two studied the each other, waiting anxiously for someone to say something. The silence was oh so excruciating as the tension of the whole moment settled into both of their minds.

"Well, have you got it figured out yet or not?" Natasha sighed, breaking the silence. Clint's grip eased up a bit and she was able to break her shoulder free and turn the corner while he collected his thoughts and began to piece it all together.


	3. Chapter 3

Avoiding Clint when he was on missions in the morning was easy, but rest assured he sure did try pretty damn hard to talk to Natasha in the evening. It was a spy's game of cat & mouse that Natasha had no plans to lose anytime soon, but she was 99% sure Clint had caught on to her big, little slip up that terminated "Operation Spider Snuggles" as Tony had named it.

About six days later the chase had ended when Clint got her alone on the top floor balcony looking out into the city skyline with her arms crossed, her chin lifted high, and her eyes focused to kill. He knew this was, surprisingly, her relaxed position. She just naturally felt more comfortable when she was aware of her surroundings. Her comfort position might have started to make her a little too comfortable though, as Natasha didn't notice Clint had found her until she could hear the sliding glass panel doors close twenty feet behind her when it was too late.

"If it were anyone else you would have finished the job with no questions asked."

The not so quiet silence of the city nightlife was the only response to Clint's greeting as Natasha held her position.

"Get the job done, right? No feelings, no emotions, just the mission," Clint tried to coax her into talking.

Again. No reaction.

"You know, I learned that from you," he confessed before turning his heels and beginning to walk away.

"Barton," Natasha nearly demanded that he stopped. He couldn't help but feel a bit victorious since he knew she wouldn't let him walk away without some sort of rebuttal. "How did you know?"

"What? That you're afraid that you might have feelings for her, or anyone really? Because for once you didn't act like Natasha Romanoff: The professional spy who's really just an assassin that gets her paycheck from the government. I don't know, I guess for once you acted like how an actual human being would."

Natasha took a moment to breath. "So why did you come up here then? To get me back on the mission? To rub it in my face? Or are you just really desperate to see some "Girl-on-girl action" as I remember you calling it?"

Clint let out a stiff laugh. "Well, at least you don't want to kill me. Natasha, I'm here cause I think you should go see her."

"So you /do/ want me back on the mission."

"No, I'm saying you should go visit her. Tonight. No weird mission objectives that require unexpected cuddling, no Tony or Bruce listening in on an earpiece, no Fury telling you what to do. Just go see her as if you were visiting a friend or something so maybe both of you could relax a bit."

"I don't have friends."

"Yeah, oh wait, I forgot I'm just your partner that saved your life and you just happen to know about my secret family that calls you Aunt Natasha. And I guess that one time in Budapest when we were forced to-"

"Barton, don't you dare speak about that ever again I swear to God I will-"

"Okay, okay, I got it just GO!"

-

Honestly, Natasha wasn't expecting much from this evening meeting. As far as anyone knew Milena hadn't spoken since she was thirteen years old. It was one thing for her respond to the tone of Natasha's voice (exactly like how a dog would), but it was another thing entirely to even try and get this girl to say anything that sounded remotely like the English language. So Natasha planned for this to be quick. She was probably asleep this late at night, so she would probably end up sitting in her usual chair at her bedside. This time there just wouldn't be any notes to be taken or billionaire assholes to deal with.

"But then what the hell am I supposed to do with a sleeping girl/dog that has the vocabulary of a newborn?" Natasha thought to herself along the way as she began to question whether or not it was actually a good idea. "Well, if it is or it isn't I don't want this haunting me for another week."

Before she could talk herself out of it she made a reckless decision for once in her life and opened the door to her room and entered. She had been in this room several times over the course of the past month, but this time it was like she had a revelation when she entered. It had only now occurred to her that the room was completely bare. There was a door, four white walls with a viewing window on the one directly across from a bed, and a bed. So what did Milena do on the rare occasion that she was awake? Staring at the walls wasn't the most entertaining or challenging thing to do to pass the time. Hell, the room didn't even seem to have a scent to it at all. The room felt the way Natasha often felt inside: Having no feeling at all, how ironic. It was basic, straightforward, and carried only the essentials needed to fulfill its purpose. Besides that, the simplicity of it all made it easy not to... get attached.

"So," a hollow voice suddenly filled the void of the room. That was when Natasha noticed the dark-haired girl sitting with her back up against the bed on the floor. She was out of bed, which was shocking, but she was talking as well? "You finally visit me after a week."

It took two short seconds for the interrogation connoisseur to think of how to answer in the best way possible. She was determined not to act neither surprised nor too desperate for answers. "I've actually continued my studies at night. You were sleeping," she lied easily as she dared to meet her hazy yellow-eyed gaze.

"No," the girl shook her head and her hair fell in front of her face. "Your scent, it's old. Six days old, actually. Believe me I would have known if you were here."

"And what exactly does my scent smell like?" she asked as she tiptoed around questioning. But she could tell this girl was as clever as her eyes were golden.

"Lavender," Milena answered with a small whimsical smile on her face. "a pinch of cinnamon and vanilla-"

"God, I'm a cupcake."

"And blood," the wolf girl finished and she took the opportunity to look over the redhead in the tight, black body suit. She had this undeniably intimidating figure and personality, but her voice was tired... and sad even. It was like she had been run down, and though she refused to stop, her longing to quit was still there. It was a survival instinct Milena had only previously seen before in herself as a girl learning how to be a wolf in a dark place far away from home. The worst part was that she was alone, and she could feel that same loneliness in the voice of the woman who stood in front of her.

Natasha merely lifted her eyebrows and bit her bottom lip in an understanding nod. "Yeah, well, I guess I should have been expecting that."

"Can't wash it off all the way, can you?"

"No," the spy made a grimace. "I've got red on my ledger..."

The yellow-eyed one could only nod in empathy as the woman broke their gaze and let her eyes wander around the room. "There's not much to look at I'm afraid," Milena stated. "In the room, I mean. The walls aren't exactly that interesting to study I'm sure."

Understanding what she was implying, Natasha met her eyes once again and became breathless. Somehow they managed to catch her by surprise every time. "I was actually just thinking about that when I walked in. I thought they would have at least put a picture in here or something."

"Will you bring me one? The next time you come visit, I mean," Milena shyly questioned. Her eyes sparkled now with a youthful glow of hope Natasha hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Well I don't know," she actually managed to pull out a smile for the first time in weeks. "Will you still be talking to me the next time I visit? In english with words and all, I mean."

"I honestly... don't know," Milena answered almost painfully as she tore her eyes from Natasha's and looked at the ground. The seriousness, but mostly worry in her voice concerned her.

"What do you mean?"

Milena tucked a caramel strand of hair behind her ear and her nose twitched. "Somedays I remember... more things than others: like how to talk and sit up straight. But other days its like I wake up and I'm... looking through someone else's eyes. Or rather, /something/."

"Then let me help you," Natasha said sincerely, and she meant it.

"So your eyepatched friend and the one with the blown up ego who reeks of cologne can put me in their new circus act?"

"I can promise you that's not going to happen. You've trusted me this much, just trust me a little bit more, okay?"

Milena bit her bottom lip and her mind became conflicted with choices and outcomes. "What makes you think I trust you at all?" she asked more timidly than she planned.

Natasha noted how vulnerable Milena suddenly became. She also couldn't ignore how the rising sense of fear Milena was beginning to experience all over again worried her. For some reason she felt scared for her and longed to calm the bubbling fires of fear that sparked in her yellow eyes. "Because you trusted me enough to talk to me. And also because we're all... circus freaks here, including me. We want to help you, Milena... Will you let me do that?"

And the smile that she gave as her answer made Natasha feel like the room was a tad bit warmer and little bit less lonely.


	4. Chapter 4

"Morning," the redhead poked her head into the door. The brunette had her yellow eyes on her immediately as she watched her carry in what looked like was a giant cardboard box with the corner of a wooden frame sticking out.

"Long night?" she asked as Natasha pulled in her usual chair from the outside and placed it near the side of her bed.

"Not any longer than usual. Why?"

"You said "morning" but it's 12:15."

"It was 11:50 the last I checked," Natasha furrowed her eyebrows at the statement. "There isn't a clock in this room. How do you know what time it is?"

Milena shrugged with honest confusion. "I don't know for sure. My best guess would be some wolfy lunar senses or maybe I'm just psychic."

"Psychic would be cool, but wolfy lunar senses would make a lot more sense," she agreed and started to pull out a large frame from the cardboard box. It was a painting on canvas placed in a wooden frame. It was a rather abstract, but beautiful piece of art. It looked like a man with his back mostly turned away with some kind of farming tool in his hands. The field he stood in had a swarm of pink, prickly flowers bursting life from the thick, choppy stems that took up a great deal of the paining. In the back was a large, orange horse with a black one that shadowed him in the back. The sky was an eerie, yet calming greenish-blue that had clearly been structured with brushstrokes purposely by the artist.

"Hope you like Vrubel; he's one of my favorites," Natasha displayed the painting off for her and looked silently for the young ones approval. At first Natasha had considered a painting of a forest like the one she had inhabited for so many years. Then she thought it might trigger her wolf instincts or something crazy along those lines, so she played it safe rather than sorry.

As Natasha began to nail the frame into place on the wall across from the bed, she could feel a set of eyes watching her intently. It was strange though how she didn't feel immediately threatened like her instincts would usually deduce. Her initial reaction to the staring was to continue what she was doing as usual, but this time she felt like she could relax a bit. She wasn't completely on high alert, which was an unfamiliar feeling she admitted to enjoying at least a little bit.

After she straightened the painting to her liking she swiped her hands together and turned right into the gaze of the wolf. Milena's wide yellow eyes sparkled dimly with a youthful wonder in them as she got a good look at how the picture sat on the wall.

"What?" Milena suddenly asked and her head tilted a few angles to the side.

"Nothing," Natasha lied as she took a seat in her chair. "You have very beautiful eyes," she admitted to her, though it did sound more complimentary than any other feeling the spy was trying to contain. She immediately realized that was the first time she had said that out loud. Speaking it seemed to give it more validation or truth to Natasha, which ticked the part of her mind that woefully reminded her she might actually be displaying emotions of some sort.

"Really?" Milena laughed at herself and shook her head in disbelief. "You're acting like you've never seen brown eyes before."

Natasha took only the duration of a sharp intake of breath to understand what Milena's response had meant. "You haven't looked in a mirror yet, have you?"

"No," Milena confirmed and she seemed to just understand that fact as well. "I... guess I've never seen what I look like for a few years now, huh?"

Natasha wished she could give her more comfort or anything, but all she could do was inquire if she wanted a mirror.

"Yeah, I guess a mirror would be nice." the young pup answered with slight faltering. Natasha could feel the uncertainty that came from the part of Milena that was terrified to see what she had become. A lot had happened to her physically and emotionally since she was only 13 years old. Not knowing even half of that left a large void in her life's timeline that she could never get back or relive. In her own eyes, Milena probably wouldn't even recognize the person she had become, so Natasha was wary of how she would react and tried to make her words slow and comforting.

"Whenever you're ready you're welcome to leave this room."

"Leave?" Milena sounded doubtful and suddenly leaped out of her bed and walked towards the back wall with her back turned. Her arms crossed and she seemed to be sheltering herself up against the wall in a cowering-like motion. "I've been away from the world for seven years."

Natasha pressed her lips together and sat up a bit straighter in her chair. She wasn't exactly sure if she should walk over towards her to comfort her or give her space. "Fear is a natural emotion," she tried to enlighten to anxious brunette with a statement she wouldn't even admit to herself. It was strange how this one girl was changing her whole outlook without even trying. "I know you barely know me, but I want you to understand that I want to help you. So-"

"No, no, you're right," Milena seemed to suddenly realize and she turned so half of her body faced Natasha. "The first time we met you said your name was Natasha Romanoff, so I know that much aside from what instinct has to contribute, but I don't want to rely on instinct to make assumptions on you."

Her thought process intrigued Natasha. It was like she was always searching for something and had all the clues, but she was forever a wonderer. It was almost a child-like, whimsical characteristic about her that reminded Natasha how much of her childhood Milena didn't experience. It was something they had in common that drew Natasha towards this girl she also barely knew. It was like... comfort... almost.

"I'll admit I'm not the most /open/ person."

There were those yellow eyes again searching for something Natasha couldn't quite figure out. "Well, what if we asked each other questions? I know the guys you work for are looking for information on me."

Natasha chuckled. "Working for /men/ has never been goal. They're my colleagues so-to-speak, but trust me, they're good guys and they want to help."

Milena nodded thoughtfully. "So what is the goal then?"

"What?"

"You said working for men wasn't your goal. So why do you do... /this/?"

"Depends on what you think /this/ is," the redhead skillfully avoided an answer that gave out too much. "My turn then. What do /you/ think I do?"

"Well, this is a different way to get to know a person I guess," Milena laughed as she walked over towards the bed and sat cross-legged in front of the spy. "I'm guessing you work for an organization. Probably the government, but then again you don't seemed like your average, brainwashed, stiff, 9-to-5 worker in a suit."

"That would be because I am not brainwashed. And to answer your next question, the agency I used to work for had the tendency to recruit people with special abilities. People like to call us circus freaks, but I've been called worse."

"So you don't work for them anymore?"

"Uhuh, it's my turn to ask a question," Natasha stopped her. "So, what's your favorite animal?"

"Hmm... Probably a deer," Milena answered with a playful "licking of the lips" motion as if she were hungry.

"Don't the wolves eat the deer?" Natasha played along when she saw that Milena had loosened up a bit.

"Uhuh, it's my turn to ask a question," Milena rebutted with a victorious grin. "What's /your/ favorite animal?"

"I don't have one."

"Well, for the sake of the game let's pretend you do."

"Okay. But why a deer?" Natasha asked her question a little more sternly this time.

Milena bit her bottom lip which made Natasha's pulse waver a bit. "When I was five my parents gave me a pet fawn for my birthday. I named her Clarisse and I loved her more than anything."

Natasha nodded. A pet fawn was definitely not your usual domesticated canine or feline, but she could see how it suited her personality. She didn't think like a normal girl and she showed more interest in things regular people wouldn't have. A baby deer would have challenged her; kept her on her toes. "Tiger. That answers your question."

"A tiger suits a spy like you."

"I'm more of an assassin by birth actually. Does that bother you?" Natasha tested nervously. She didn't want to scare her or make her uncomfortable.

"No, it's just you said that we're all circus freaks here. When did you stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Assassinating people I guess."

The master assassin was at her knees for a split second in time as it took her two seconds to think of what to say. "A couple of years back a guy that I now work with was sent to kill me when I was discovered. He made a different call and I got recruited by the "good guys" and started a new life. Now how did you know I "stopped"?"

"Yesterday you said you had red on your ledger. That made you uncomfortable. Assassins don't do that, but I guess former assassins do," Milena simply pointed out that part of their conversation from yesterday. She sounded sincere and understanding, which Natasha wasn't expecting. Most of the world had judged her pretty badly, naturally, when she had spilled S.H.I.L.D.'s secrets back when taking down Hydra. Milena acted differently.

"So is that what makes you a circus freak then?" Milena inquired.

"Yeah, I suppose it does. I'm a little bit more hardcore than the next guy, but I'm Russian. Would you like to meet a few more?"

Milena almost spoke before thinking, but stopped herself short when she remembered the game she was playing was with a spy/assassin. "That depends. Are they more freaky than you?"

"I think they may give you a run for your money, actually, when it comes to how freaky they can be," she smirked with slight blush. "But I assure you they are good guys." Going through all the Avenger members that were in town sparked an idea in Natasha's head that she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of before. "Actually, there's one I think that can really help you with this whole missed time thing."

"Who?"

"Hey, it's my turn to ask a question."

"Sorry," Milena rolled her eyes at her.

"So... ever heard of Captain America?"

Getting Steve on dog-sitting duty with Natasha was easy once she convinced him that Milena wasn't going to try and bite him. The soldier and the wolf had bonded really quickly seeing that Steve knew exactly what it was like to wake up to an unfamiliar world.

"Wow, I feel like seven years in the wilderness is nothing compared to seventy years frozen in ice," Milena marveled. Once she had warmed up to Steve a few days later the two got her to leave her room and start to explore the rest of the building. Well, she hadn't been to every single part of the building yet, considering the fact that Avengers (previously Stark) Tower was a massive skyscaper with dangerous labs and weapon rooms, but a lounge room was a good start.

In the next few weeks the two had eased her into letting Bruce perform minimal tests on her to gain more information about her animalistic side. The two had an instant connection and bonded quickly. They seemed to have a deep understanding of each other. They were both mutants who saw themselves as monsters, and Bruce helped Milena get to know her other self in the most comfortable way possible. They hadn't tried to get her to turn back into a wolf yet, but Milena did show interest in learning about her genetic mutations.

That was all the Avengers Milena had met so far. Natasha insisted to the others that they take it slow and not to overwhelm her.

"Since when are you her mother?" Tony laughed at the fact that Natasha had a morsel of any sort of motherly instincts.

"I don't think you want a giant, bulletproof wolf with nuclear anger to bruise your glorified memorial tower your built for yourself, Stark," she defended, although really she was surprised as well about how this girl had changed her almost completely. She brought out a side of herself she had never seen and it was weird. Clint had taken notice to how much Natasha enjoyed spending time with her and how she barely trapped herself in the gym anymore. Ultimately he was glad that his friend had any sort of happiness in her life, but he also feared that she would get hurt. The future was definitely uncertain and pretty unpredictable when it came to how Natasha's emotions would play out. She didn't have the record of giving into them if she even showed signs of having emotion in her past. He could definitely see that it was possible for it all to go down hill and ruin the entire operation and even hurt Milena as well.

Natasha started getting assigned missions again with Bruce and Steve around to take care of Milena. Her and Steve would usually tag-team every other day or two to give the other a chance to get back out on the field or spend time with Milena. Luckily, she had a pretty strong sense of self-motivation that came along after a few weeks.

"You're going out again, aren't you?" Milena suddenly appeared in the doorway of Natasha's room. She was all geared up and strapping into her uniform.

Natasha looked up to find the young brunette standing alone. For the past two weeks or so they had barely been alone together. Of course Natasha was glad that Milena was reaching out to Bruce and Steve, but being alone with her made Natasha's heart putter a little bit faster and she felt like her breaths were lighter than usual. Natasha almost hated the fact that she had to leave that night and she would miss out a moment to talk to this girl. Something drew Natasha near her almost instinctually. She had been able to keep her emotions in check up till now, but having this girl alone in her room made a spike in her heart rate.

"Yeah I'm leaving, but I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon," she answered with a smile added on at the end.

Milena found herself nodding as she studied the floor in deep thought.

"Hey," Natasha called her with concern when she saw a frustrated look appear on her face. "Don't worry, I'm coming back and tonight you, Steve, and Bruce have movie night, remember? I think it's Cap's choice so he'll probably choose the Wizard of Oz or something," she laughed at herself in attempt to get the brunette to lighten up.

"No... No, it's not that," Milena looked up at the redhead and sighed. "It's just..." she shook her head again. "I have something I want to tell you, but you can't tell Steve or Bruce, okay?"

Natasha almost melted (if that was possible). A spy's form of "melting" would probably be a smile and a blush, but that was a lot for Natasha along the lines of displaying emotion. But Milena wanted to tell Natasha, and /only/ Natasha something that was obviously along the lines of a secret. Any time the brunette showed the redhead even the smallest morsel of affection Natasha took notice to it. "She's probably just being friendly, though," Natasha thought to herself in doubt. And she was probably right. There were too many factors going against the chance that Milena had any sort of strong, affectionate feelings for her; that was just something Natasha was going to have to accept.

"Well, I'm not saying we're /not/ being recorded by Jarvis right now, but I promise that no one is going to hear anything from me."

Milena nodded at her and bit that bottom lip of hers. "You and Cap go out every day and save the world while I sit around to wait for you to come home like a sad puppy... No pun intended," she added and rolled her eyes at herself. "I just feel... useless."

Natasha shook her head, almost like she was trying to tell her not to feel that way. "You were in the wilderness for seven years. No one expects you to be able to recover and walk away in just over a month. Hell, if it were me it would be years."

Milena raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "We both know if it were you, you wouldn't even take a second to sit down before getting back out on the field."

"Touche. But you missed out on 7 years of your life. That's a lot to deal with."

"I got to skip puberty. I don't think I can complain about that."

"Okay, I understand how you feel, I just don't want you to feel pushed or you're required to do this. We can start out with a test mission: something small with me and Cap and possibly another one of the Avengers along with you. Whatever makes you comfortable."

"I feel like this is something I have to do. I want to feel like a have a purpose here, but what if I can't control... /it/?"

"Milena, if you don't want to you don't have to ever-"

"That's why I'm here though. You never would have sent in Captain America to bring me here if I was just a normal person, would you? Fury must obviously see some sort of potential in me, and I hope I do, but what if he's wrong? Then the last thing you need is two rage monsters running around here."

"Those are all acceptable fears, but you have to actually try this before you can deem yourself a failure or whatever you want to call yourself. But I refuse to watch you beat yourself up now as you're asking to get onto the field before taking yourself into consideration."

"I've just got a lot to live up to. Thanks to you, the bar is set so high it's gonna make me look like a failure no matter what."

"Don't say that, you dork," Natasha snorted. Before she could stop herself or think about it she had taken the short brunette into her arms. It was only in their first embrace that Natasha truly realized how short Milena was. Her chin sat on top of her brown, caramel headed hair perfectly. And at that first contact they made Natasha sighed and closed her eyes almost unwillingly. She hugged her back before the spy could even think about pulling away out as an option to get out of the unfamiliar embrace. This time it was Natasha's turn to catch her scent. It was like a musky, wood-scented cologne but not as strong (go figure). The smell surrounded her as she could feel Milena's forehead rested up against her shoulder. Natasha wished it could always be this way. She felt protected from the world with Milena's arms around her, but also felt like she could protect her this way. Her worries suddenly were picked up and carried away by the wind as Natasha held the young pup to her tighter and let herself give in to her childish dreams for once in her life.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Hey readers! This is actually a fanfiction I started working on over on quotev and it's my first fanfiction ever so I'd really really appreciate the reviews :)

Three months later

"It's about damn time for Harry Potter," Milena dropped a large stack of DVDs in front of Steve. "It's my turn to pick for movie night because I am sick and tired of watching your black and white films with audio that doesn't even match up with the gibberish the characters are saying."

"Woah, woah, woah," Tony protested. "You can't give Capsicle something as complex as Harry Potter. He can barely tell what universe he's currently in; trying to introduce him to your wizard world cult is too much for this old man to handle. Plus, I also quite enjoy black and white films with audio that doesn't even match up with the gibberish the characters are saying." he pronounced as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I missed the whole rest of the series that's been released in the past seven years, Stark. Nothing, and I mean nothing is going to stop me from watching Harry Potter!"

Despite Steve not understanding what the heck they were arguing about, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Once Milena had (partially) accepted Tony's arrogance, attitude, and chronic sarcasm it was easy enough for them not to kill each other. They bugged each other the way Steve imagined a brother and sister might, which relieved him and the rest of the Avengers, since Tony had the tendency to hit on anything with legs and estrogen.

He was also happy to see Milena gradually loosening up to everyone on the team and getting used to her new life. She had been through a lot of inexplainable change in the past few months, and adjusting to a new world she had woken up in hadn't made it any easier. Of course, Steve's culture shock had been a little bit more dramatic and high-risk, but Milena's transition was no walk in the park of puppyhood. Even though she was physically 22 and very much more mature and intelligent than some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he had known, deep down inside he could still make out the scars forever engraved into her. It left her with the susceptible vulnerability of a young child, and that worried the whole team. However, no one was more worried than Natasha.

"My vote is for Saw," Natasha raised her hand. Steve had to admit, she had a strange taste in movies.

"Oh God, no not again. I thought we watched all of those movies already!" Milena shook her head in protestation. To say the least, gory, violent thriller movies were not her preferred genre.

"C'mon, Natasha. We all know you only want to watch a horror film so you can have an excuse to cuddle with the dog," Tony was laughing.

In a split second the widow was walking towards him so fast he didn't realize he was being pushed up against the wall. "What. Did. You. Say?" she abruptly growled at him and her jaw locked. "Did you just call her a /dog/? That's some piece of shit coming from an ass like you!" Her face was turning a shade that matched her vibrantly colored hair, and not in embarrassment. Steve would have stepped in usually, since he was the mediator for team quarrels and such, but this time he just leaned back against the wall and waited for the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist to talk his way out his mess. He saw Clint out of the corner of his eye pull out something that he suspected was a recording device or phone.

"Looks like it's someone's time of month," Tony played it cool and whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Clint.

Steve saw Stark's future looking pretty nonexistent right before he saw a flash of brown hair on top of a petite figure dash over and try to separate the widow from her victim before her top blew off all the way. "Natasha, stop, please. I know Tony's dick, but he was just joking, c'mon," she urged her to walk away. Though she had pulled Natasha's grip off of him, she still glared at Stark and stood her ground. "Please, Natasha," she took her left hand into both of hers in an attempt to pull her away. Tony put on his innocent-victim face and never took his eyes away the intense stare-down the two were having. He knew exactly how to push her buttons, but man was he risking his neck for the sake of a joke.

After a few more tense moments, Natasha gave in and let Milena steer her back towards the couch again. Steve had remained quiet for the entire time and was surprised to see Milena rush so quickly to pull Natasha away. The situation had shot up in intensity in a split second, yet she had remained calm and even got herself involved with something that could have turned out pretty badly. It was Bruce who originally concluded from several tests that like how his alter-ego was induced by anger, Milena's was triggered by an instinctual fear that arose in her whenever a threat was detected around her. Spur of the moment violence wasn't usually a problem for her up until a few days ago. Naturally, Natasha and everyone else had insisted that while Milena was still easing herself into morphing back into her other form, she should at least learn the basics of self-defense and fighting. So the super soldier himself had helped train her in hand-to-hand combat and gymnastics. At first, she was a natural and her Canis lupus DNA proved to be very useful for fighting. However, just the other day during a spar with Clint, he had pulled his bow out without warning and it set her off. Milena's sharp yellow eyes had widened with engulfing fear, and she had thrown her nails into Clint's cheek quite aggressively before she sprinted out of the room as if she were being chased. She was later found pacing back and forth on the floor of her room, unable to speak coherently for the next few hours.

"She doesn't like surprises," Bruce had summed up to Steve when he was later being briefed on everything that had happened. "We're lucky that nothing happened this time."

Steve had almost had to hold his breath when they all suddenly heard Tony's body thud up against the wall with Natasha right up on his tail. Thankfully Milena seemed to be under control. For now. But Bruce would definitely not be happy to find out about what had just occurred.

"I'm actually surprised, Romanoff," Tony refused to shut up. But before Steve or Clint could get him to shut up and get of the path to suicide, he had already said a little bit too much. "I actually thought you would be mad at me about the whole, ya know, cuddling with Milena part. Because that /is/ what you were really mad about, right? And the whole "dog" thing was just a brilliant cover. Well then, give it up for Agent Romanoff and her oscar worthy acting moment. She had me totally convinced that the whole first part of my arrogant sentence flew right over her head."

"Wha-"

"WALK AWAY NAT," Clint now stepped in to rush the raging redhead out of the room along with Milena.

Steve was officially confused and was almost going to be left alone that way before he got up to turn Tony around by his shoulder. "What did you mean when you made that, that 'cuddling' reference?" Steve tried to interrogate it out of him all tough and serious, but ended up sounding like he was the confused puppy.

"Reference? Oh, oh, oh, yes. No. That was not a reference at all, it was quite the opposite. It was very literal actually. I know, I know, I'm kinda surprised as well. Who knew that spiders were attracted to wolves. Didn't know the arachnid-mammal sexuality was a thing, but-"

"What are you talking about?" Steve tried to get ahold of the situation again. His brows furrowed in confusion as he struggled to process what Tony's words meant. Natasha and Milena? Something about "cuddling"? Natasha and Milena? Milena and Natasha? Arachnomammo-what-now?

"Oh. OH, WOW! Woooooooooww," Tony went on and on as his attention span dwindled and dwindled into that of a three-year-old. His gibberish didn't seem to stop and it was getting on Steve's last nerves. He was tired of being the clueless one and being ridiculed for it.

"Hey, what does it mean?"

"Yeah, sorry I forgot that you're reallllllllllyyyy not caught up with the times. Natasha. Milena. You haven't noticed? Okay, okay, I'll try and make it simple for you. Natasha /likes/ Milena. Like, she /like/ /likes/ her. And the thing is, Milena /like/ /likes/ her back, but it's only obvious to everyone except the two of them. Oh, and except you too of course, except now I just told you. So I guess those two "excepts" now cancel each other out or something like that, so-"

"Natasha. Likes. Milena?" Steve tried to grasp the subject like a guy with prosthetic hands using chopsticks.

"No, no, no. Natasha. /Likes/. Milena. And Milena. /Likes/. Natasha... Well, at least I'm 90% sure about that last bit, but in all the movies it's always that way: The guy likes the girl, well, in this case the assassin likes the girl who happens to be part carnivorous beast, but the point is they both like each other but they're afraid to say anything to the other person. Have you ever watched any Nicholas Sparks?"

"I think I need to sit down."

"Okay. You do that. I'm gonna go get some ice cream and watch the Notebook."

So Steve was finally left alone on a couch in front of a television screen playing Harry Potter with nobody else in sight. He kept repeating Tony's words (except the many, many irrelevant ones) in his mind over and over. He knew that the people from this century were more... progressive and open with themselves, but girls could /like/ other girls? And it was normal? Did a lot of girls /like/ other girls? Did that mean guys could /like/ other guys? What else was possible or even normal for these people? Steve couldn't think any sense of what he was asking himself. He didn't even know how long he had been sitting in the same spot staring at the floor.

"Uh, Jarvis?" he called to the only "person" that might give him a straight answer.

"Yes, Captain Rogers," Jarvis replied forever faithful to his duties. Steve secretly hoped that Intelligence Systems didn't get freaked out by personal questions. Or was today's society not as personal with things like... sexuality?

"What did?... Wha-... Ugh," he couldn't fathom his questions and wondering into words. "Can you... explain... please, what Tony said?" he really hoped Jarvis didn't make hims explain himself further.

"It has come to my attention that whenever Agent Romanoff meets Miss Telivola her heart rate spikes significantly: usually a physical response and indicator to affectionate feelings for another person. Miss Telivola also has irregular breaths around Agent Romanoff. I hope that answers some of your questions, Captain Rogers," Jarvis tried to sum up the best way he could analyze Steve wanted.

Steve's initial reaction was unsure and had a natural repulsion in itself. Society back in the 1940s was very traditional, as he had taken notice, compared to society today. A lot more people were rude and didn't care to look out for their neighbors like they used to. Everyone was always in a hurry and would step on the little guy in a second for the most absurd of reasons. People today were a lot more selfish and impolite for sure. But girls /liking/ girls? That wasn't even a thing back when Steve was growing up. It was as unheard of as getting a divorce. His whole childhood and traditional morals he was raised on told him to be disgusted by such an idea. But as he remembered everything that had happened since he knew the two of them, his opinion quickly evolved. Natasha was burying herself in her addiction to training before Milena had been brought here. He also remembered the first time he had encountered Milena, when it was in her other form. Her alter-ego was fierce, but frightened immensely. It was quite noticeable with Steve that both of the two had changed for the better because of the other. Milena could relax around Natasha and often worried sick about her even when she was on the simplest of missions. At first Steve had thought she was merely being a concerned friend, but then the look in her drab yellow eyes as they sparkled with life all of a sudden whenever Natasha came home opened up his senses. And Natasha had an epiphany as well. Steve took notice to how free and happy she now was. She enjoyed doing regular activities now almost as if the entire team was a big family. Steve liked to think they were, but it was definitely Milena who had helped bring them together to make that a reality. She always treated everyone as a person; not the monsters they had all convinced themselves that they were. And that was exactly what Natasha needed.

So as Steve made his way towards his room with his mind still dwelling on all of these thoughts, a small smile grew on his face and expanded outward. "Natasha and Milena," he thought to himself and played with their names together. He had always tried to remember that Tony was a compulsive liar who couldn't be trusted to take advice or information from, but this time it was different. Even Steve could tell for himself that Natasha and Milena were kind of soulmates.


	6. Chapter 6

"C'mon Nat. Even super spies need their nap time," Milena pushed Natasha into her room. She practically had to drag her down the hallway after Tony's comment had made her face redder than her hair. Something had just set her off and turned on her raging side. It almost made Milena jump out of her skin. She had to admit that the spy was intimidating with her piercing green eyes and crossed arms, but she had never lurched herself at anyone in an attack as long as Milena had known her. Natasha always seemed like she was under control: calm, cool, and collected with stone hard armor that was impossible to impenetrate. Apparently, it only took iron and a little bit of cruel sarcasm to cut through that skin and unleash the widow's wild bite upon her victims. Honest to God, the sudden change in personality had almost poked Milena in the wrong place. As Natasha's muscles flexed and it was clear her aim was set to target Tony, Milena had felt a strange vibration-like rumbling in her throat. It took all of her self-control she had been practicing with Bruce to keep in a animalistic growl from escaping.

Natasha shook her head as her breathing raced. The shorter brunette could barely push against the taller redhead's shoulders to keep her back, but Natasha's focus was on the open door and the empty hallway she could quickly dash down. "Let me kill him for you," Milena heard her swear in Russian and she muttered something about shoving one of her guns up somewhere and shooting over and over. Milena could tell she couldn't be held down much longer, and before she knew it she had taken the redhead's flustered pink cheeks into her own hands.

"пожалуйста сядьте. Please sit down," she begged as her thumb rubbed over her cheekbone. Her face was softer than she had expected. In a split second all of her thoughts were replaced by new ones. Milena had planned to go into a whole speech to try and calm Natasha down with words or at least soothe her. So many panicked thoughts had plagued her mind about what would happen if Natasha had gotten her hands on Tony. Seeing her in so much pain, for whatever reason, and angry enough to make her violent had made Milena desperate. She couldn't bear to see Natasha so struck with uncontrollable emotion after what Tony said. Sure, she was more than capable of tearing off his head and possibly destroying a whole village full of people at the time, but underneath all of it Milena could almost smell it. It was a scent very familiar to her: fear.

Natasha was very much vulnerable and Milena could tell it scared her. It was like she was trying to defend herself by attacking people; that was a familiar feeling to the little brunette. When she had first woken up the fear was so intense it almost forced her body to throw itself against the door so she could get out. She understood. And she never wanted to see Natasha feel that sort of pain was like watching herself be stuck with needles while there was nothing she could do to resist. In that moment she would have done anything to relieve Natasha of the emotional burden she had carried on her back for God knows how long. It was going to eat her alive eventually.

But then suddenly, she felt her cool skin under her fingers. The nerves at her fingertips sparked with what felt like buds bursting all along her hands up and down. Suddenly she couldn't keep focused on the thoughts that had just been so clear. Her nose clung to the scent of lavender with a pinch of vanilla and cinnamon and the faint smell of dripping blood. She only got one good whiff of it, as then she found herself unable to breathe; her mouth was caught half open and she couldn't tear her hand away.

Natasha's eyes had widened at her with her focus turning from the open door towards Milena. She hadn't even noticed that she was only a few inches in front of her. Their body heat seemed to be conjoined they were so close. And her small hands on her cheeks felt like she was being enveloped in a sheet of silk all around her. She could feel her pulse running from her own skin into the younger one's palms back and forth like they shared the same body. Her yellow eyes never left her own, and she could even feel electricity forming between their gaze. Natasha was definitely on the edge and about to fall for this girl. And she was going to let herself do just that.

"I-" Milena's hand finally began to release its tender pressure on her cheek. She took her hand away like it was almost painful for her though. "I- I"m sorry." Milena seemed to croak out and she turned away to rip that unfamiliar feeling of happiness straight from the redhead, leaving her empty and yearning for more.

"No, no, it's ok," Natasha stood there awkwardly hoping to call her back. She knew if she let herself act on impulse she would grab her face in return and possibly scare her. "You can speak Russian?" she half asked half stated to change the subject, although that /did/ interest her. Languages hadn't even ever been brought up between the two, so this was the first time Natasha even knew she spoke a different language, let alone Russian out of all of them!

Milena nodded as she looked over her shoulder. Natasha's heart could've broken right then and there. "Please, look at me," she begged silently for those yellow eyes to open up to her own again.

"Some of the hikers I encountered in the woods when I was in Ukraine," Milena explained. "Some of the people I... mauled... they spoke Russian. I don't know, I guess... I guess I'm a quick learner." She laughed nervously. It was like their eyes were both two of the same kinds of magnet- never attracting each other and only pushing the other away. Natasha couldn't get this girl to look at her and it seemed like she was pretty set on that.

"I'm glad you do." Natasha whispered quietly, hoping that she would at least listen to her. Her words sounded broken, like little whimpers lost in the wind.

"Really?" Milena asked curiously, but she still only looked out of the corner of her eyes.

"Yeah... It makes me... happy," Natasha forced a smile even if she wouldn't see it. "If only you knew how much /you/ make me happy," she thought to herself and wished those words could be real.

One week later

"You guys get into a fight or something?" she heard Barton's voice over her left shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Natasha was sparring one-on-five. So basically, five unfortunate agents were being used as pillow punching bags for her fists' pleasure. She had been training non-stop for the past 10 hours; she kept JARVIS busy trying to find more agents for her to dispose of after she was done with the others. Her daily routine had been similar to this for the past six days and it had immediately caught Clint's attention when he recently got back from a mission. For Clint, it was like watching his best friend fall back into a relapse for heroin addiction. All of the life that had been slowly bringing back color to her face had instantly been sucked out of her from what he could tell. There was really only one explanation to why.

"You /do/ know I'm gonna find out eventually. I may not be able to beat it out of you, but I /am/ pretty good with animals if I do say so myself."

Natasha took that opening to punch Clint's bad shoulder which she remembered had been shot on one of their previous missions. "Ow!" He clutched his shoulder and the five sparring agents shook even more.

"You're almost as bad as Stark," she insulted him with that nasty comparison before jabbing a buff, 280 lb muscular field agent up his nose and causing his cartilage to tear and blood to spill out. The spy swiftly stepped out of the way of the blood's flowing path just as he fell to the ground to clutch his red-stained face.

"So it /is/ about Milena then," Clint stepped to the side to let the second agent try to sneak up behind her. As soon as he got his arms wrapped around her neck, Natasha flipped her legs up on top of his shoulders and forced him down under her with his arms locked behind his back. He shrieked out in pain as she twisted his wrists.

"Well, isn't everything about her? She's pretty big news, Clint."

Hawkeye sighed. He wasn't getting Natasha to open up any time soon and just skipped right to the point. "You can't trap yourself in here again, Nat," he said straightforward as he was tired of being danced around.

She stiffly nodded as a response. "I'm not. I got a mission tonight. Kabul. Rogers is coming."

Clint rolled his eyes as he rolled his shoulder back into place. "Whatever you say, Nat. Whatever you say..." 

Two days later

Flying back into New York was a silent trip for the super soldier and the spy. Natasha rested her forehead in her palm and focused on her breathing while she ran every detail of the mission through her head. The team suffered one casualty: Agent Polowski had been cornered and taken out by a sniper that intel hadn't suspected. It wasn't really anybody's fault, but Natasha felt like she could have at least been watching out for the guy more. He had only been recruited just a little over a year ago, and he didn't have that much experience in the field. Steve shared some of the guild with her as he put the weight of his head into his hands and elbows balanced on top of his shield. Both of them were never close personally with Polowski, but Steve had suffered through at least a dozen Captain America fan-compliments on the way over from the guy. He was a like a miniature Coulson as he had rambled on and on and WWII stories with the excitement of a hyper six-year-old on candy steroids.

Landing on top of the tower, Natasha called in to get a stretcher for Polowski's body. Cap had dragged him nearly 20 miles outside of Kabul to get him to the chopper, but then again, it wasn't in Captain America's nature to leave behind a fellow American. "I'm going to take him back home. No American deserves to rot under foreign soil thousands away from home," he had told Natasha when she had initially told him to leave his body so they wouldn't be slowed down.

"I will get that right away, Agent Romanoff," JARVIS had replied. "Agent Romanoff requires a stretcher," his voice echoed into the tower.

As Natasha began to fill out the beginning of countless records and report papers, her writing was soon interrupted by the sound of glass crashing and breaking from inside.

A few intel agents that had fetched her coffee once ran out onto the roof screaming and flailing their arms. "What's going on?" Steve poked his head outside of the chopper and the two then saw a familiar face jogging towards them.

Bruce rushed over to the chopper, pushing agents out of the way to get to his two teammates. The look on his face looked like worry more than anything else. "It's Milena," he explained looking back and forth between the two as Steve came to stand next to Nat. "She heard JARVIS say you needed a stretcher and then she saw them roll the body in. She thought it was you and-"

"Don't, Bruce. Don't," Natasha almost begged him as she shook her head. Steve balanced her with his hand on her shoulder. Both of them were dreading the confirmation they knew would come out of Bruce's mouth.

"She's transformed, I couldn't stop it, and now she's on a rampage. I tried talking to her, but she wasn't listening as soon as the first signs started to show. She thinks you're dead, Natasha, and she's really, /really/ angry about it. It kinda scares the other guy, actually."

Jerking her shoulder out from Cap's grip, she marched her way past panicking agents and into the tower.

"What are you doing?" Steve yelled after her as Banner followed shortly behind.

"She has to know I'm alive," she didn't even bother to slow down. "She has to know she's not gonna lose me... Or else I might lose her."


	7. Chapter 7

She forgot trying to hide her feelings. She forgot that they hadn't spoken in a week. She forgot about her pride. She let it all go. She had to anyway, because all she could focus on was getting to her before the fear of losing her forced her down. But every second she was running faster and faster it also seemed like she was slowing down. It was another second Milena was lost; another heartbeat she would spend hating herself after it was over. If it would ever be over. For Natasha, she couldn't run fast enough; she screamed at people to move out of the way and pushed them back into doors and windows without a care in the world. Her acceleration down the halls made her red locks whip behind her like actual red flames. But it still wasn't fast enough. She pumped her arms faster and begged her legs to move quicker. She was desperate to try anything that would get her to Milena.

"Mr. Stark has her cornered on the 30th floor," she could hear JARVIS' voice keep echoing that message behind her as she zoomed past several of his sound system panels.

It only took her a second to figure out the quickest route down. She didn't even stop as she slammed her entire body through the stairwell door and tumbled over the railing. Falling down ten stories of steps without actually using the stairs wasn't exactly fun, but she didn't even bother to brush herself up when she rolled out of her landing out the door and into the hallway. Her ankles pulsed in pain while they seemed to swell another inch in diameter as every second rolled by. They were definitely sprained at least, but she continued to exert as much force as she could out of them as she launched herself around the corner. The suited up Tony had to physically stop her before she almost got a face full of iron.

"Let me in, Stark," she panted.

"Well, of course. You're the dog-sitter right? I'm not paying you to go on missions and come back making certain people assume you're dead so they wolf out and wreck my tower."

"You're not paying me at all, Stark. Now let me in, I swear I-"

"Wait!" the two turned to see Captain America still suited up running towards them with his shield in hand. "You're gonna need backup." he motioned towards his shield.

"No," Natasha shook her head and swatted at his glorified metal trash can lid. "You'll scare the shit out of her and she's already an emotional wreck. It'll make it worse."

"Uhhhhh, so what are you gonna do? Throw a giant elephant bone at her and hope that she just gnaws on that till she turns back into a human?" Tony's voice echoed from inside his suit.

"No, no, you're right," Steve set his shield down and looked like he had finally found something he was looking for. "She's in this mess because she thought you were dead. Right now, God knows what's running through her mind. She's angry, frustrated, confused even, and I don't think she'll back down if you flash a few of your guns at her now, Stark. She's pumped up on too much adrenaline; too many emotions. The only thing that's going to calm her down is knowing that Natasha is alive."

"She /has/ to see me, Tony."

"Not until you give me a good enough reason," he was probably smirking from behind his suit. She could see right through what game he was playing and this made Natasha almost slap him right through his armor.

"This isn't a game, Stark," Steve tried to size him up as he picked up his shield again.

"Why you?" Tony ignored Steve and practically tried to squeeze the answer he wanted out of Natasha like he was popping a zit.

"TONY. LET. ME. IN."

"I just wanna know why it's /you/ she wants to see," he innocently asked with a pout.

"You know damn well why. You called it yourself, Stark. You were really proud of it too." Steve pressed the shield at his shoulder a little harder. The two metals hitting together made a high-pitched clink.

"THIS ISN'T A GAME. I NEED TO GET IN THERE."

"Every second you try to stall us because you want to play a game that poor girl is suffering!" Steve tried to crack him open while Tony continued to shrug and rub him off.

"Stilllllllll not convinced," Tony put his hands on his hips.

"STARK!"

"Why?"

"STARK!"

"Why?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" Natasha exclaimed as she shoved Captain America out of the way to yell directly into Tony Stark's face. Before poor Steve could even comprehend what had happened, the widow was merely a blur of black forcing herself into the room and commanding all of the armed agents to stand down.

"Get away from her!" she yelled at them and started ripping them off of their feet and flinging them down to the ground like paper without a care. There were at least four dozen of them all armed and pointed at one target. She would kill them all if she had to to get them out of the way.

As she hurled the last standing agent out of the way Natasha halted as if she had hit an invisible wall. What she saw rendered her completely motionless.

"Milena..."

The sound was familiar. That voice. It tickled the tips of her ears and she laid them back against her head as that word brushed right over top of them like a soft spring wind picking up flower petals. Her eyes widened at the source of the sound. It was a human. A woman. She had red coloring on top of her head. Her yellow eyes focused in on her lips as they were still slightly parted right as the word left her mouth. "Milena..."

That smell. Her scent. It made her nose twitch and then relax into tender feeling of letting it surround her senses. She felt the cloud of anxiety that had been hovering above her suddenly drown in the scent that washed over. Her short whiskers tingled and brushed around her face as she slowly leaned into the figure standing before her.

"It's ok. It's me. It's gonna be ok." she heard her soothing voice echo from her mouth as she slowly bent down to the ground. Her hand slowly outstretched in her direction. The woman never broke her eyes away from her. They were green. A cool green. At first, instinct told her this eye contact was a threat. A challenge perhaps. She hesitated slightly, but then something in those eyes made her realize she spoke the truth.

Still slightly hesitant, she continued step-by-step to the meet the woman before her. She could hear the woman's heartbeat getting louder and she went a little faster to her open embrace. Everything about this human beckoned her towards her. And it felt natural. With the last few feet of distance in between them, she leaped spontaneously into the redhead's arms and headed home.

Natasha could truly relax for the first time in weeks. The tension that had been building up in the last few moments alone disappeared instantly when Milena came back to her. She never wanted to let go of the enormous bundle of fluff that shook and trembled in her arms with excitement. She desperately forced her snout up under her chin and hid herself within Natasha's shoulders. It was very cute to say the least: having this massive creature cuddle up to her like a puppy. Natasha laughed a genuine laugh and her smile was bigger than it had ever been before. "It's me. It's Natasha," she tried to soothe the excited Milena and calm her back into her human state.

Eventually, wolf-Milena rested her head in the middle of Natasha's lap as the spy stroked up and down her fur. "It's a bad thing I'm in my black suit today, huh?" she joked and motioned to all of the fur that had covered her black leather body suit. Milena sighed in response and Natasha sensed something they had both needed: Contentment. Safety. Happiness. She could see those bright yellow eyes open and close involuntarily and could tell she was close to falling asleep.

"Shhhhhh," Natasha continued to soothe her and pet her ears down. Caught up in the moment, she let herself close her eyes for about two seconds too long. When she opened them, the weight that had been on her lap was gone. Looking down she could see a small figure curled up where a giant beast had just been. Milena's dark hair was splayed out and covered her face, so Natasha went to uncover her eyes with her hand as delicately as possible.

"I will protect this girl with my life," she thought as she brushed Milena's hair out of her face with all of the affection she didn't know she possessed. Carefully sitting her up from her lap, she scooped up the brunette into her arms and cradled her in her arms as she slowly made her way up to Milena's room.

The feeling of Milena's breath against her neck as she buried her face into the crook of Natasha's neck almost made her lose her balance. She didn't know if there would ever be anything romantic between them. As much as she wanted to touch her face and softly kiss her cheeks, Natasha was unsure if that would ever happen. But she knew she needed her more than anybody else in the world, whether it was as a friend or as something more. She couldn't lose this precious girl that had stumbled her way into her dreary life.

After a long, quiet walk, Natasha came up to Milena's room and punched in the code she had been given for access. Milena's room was clean, white, and simple. There were a few potted flowers sitting by the window that needed watered and a couple of yellow and green woven blankets that sat at the edge of her bed. But Natasha looked at the wall across from her bed and saw something very interesting. It was the painting she had brought her during one of their first conversations. She had kept it. The assassin almost lost her breath and blinked several times to compose herself and she proceeded to gently place Milena on her bed and wrapped her in a bundle of blankets. She needed her sleep, as tomorrow she would be facing the horrors of what had just happened: guilt, confusion, questions, tests, frustration... Natasha wanted so desperately to take that all away from her.

Natasha straightened up as she was just about to leave, but hesitated slightly and stopped herself. She was unsure of what she should do, if anything, but she let herself lean down and take Milena's soft, warm cheek into her hand. That feeling completed her as little as it was. And the spy slowly leaned her head in and placed a single, hesitant kiss on the brunette's cheek so close to her mouth that the edge of Natasha's lips could almost kiss her.

Natasha made herself pull away and then quickly and quietly turned towards the door. When she could almost touch the doorknob, a voice singing in her ear caught her attention.

"Natasha?"

The redhead turned her head to see a pair of blinking yellow eyes staring at her. Just Milena's head peaked out from the thick blankets and made her look rather adorable like an eskimo, so Natasha had to hold in a giggle.

"Y-yeah?" she could barely manage to say.

"Will you?...Will you, uh, stay with me tonight?" Milena shyly requested. Even in the dark, Natasha could see her blushing profusely.

"Yeah, yeah of course," Natasha nodded quickly and tried to walk at a normal pace back towards the bed. Crawling in on the other side, she suddenly realized Natasha could feel her heart searing out of her skin and her body practically begged her to flee from the situation. Her body shook even under the thick covers she bundled herself in next to Milena. "Am I really lying next to her right now?" she thought to herself in an attempt to process reality.

And then Natasha stiffened up when she remembered a horrible thought that came back to haunt her. This was /exactly/ what Tony had suggested months before. The whole idea of casually slipping into her bed to calm her down in her restless sleep. "Girl-on-girl-action." Well dammnit Tony. Guess in the end he did get the "snuggle session" he wanted all along. Natasha only prayed that JARVIS wasn't recording any of this at the moment. She didn't know exactly what she had done to deserve this punishment, but karma sure was a bitch.

After being in the bed with her for only a few seconds, Natasha was close to excusing herself from the room and leaving before she embarrassed herself in front of girl who's opinion she actually valued; the girl who's witty, yet corky personality drew the spy in like she forgot she ever had self-restraint; the girl who's brush of her hand could make Natasha's mind go wild and lose all of her senses. But then as if whatever God she had silently been praying to had answered her prayers. Natasha felt a pounding heat near her chest now, but it wasn't coming from her body. Opening her eyes, the redhead looked down to find the brunette curled up against her chest and her eyes rested softly on her soft face. She let out a sigh and Natasha's normally cold skin warmed up to the feeling of the flesh she yearned for so much.

Stroking her hand down the brunette's head, now it was Natasha who was blushing profusely. "I thought you were dead," she heard Milena's voice come out barely at a whisper.

It killed Natasha to make her think about Milena alone in this world. "No," she tried to reassure her and she wrapped her arms around her trembling body. "I promise you I will never leave ever, Milena. I will never leave you alone in this world," she vowed to the brunette that hung onto her every word.

"Promise me," she tried to demand assertively, but it came out more desperate than anything. "Please, Natasha."

Drawn in too far by this girl who had captivated the untamable widow, Natasha forgot self-control as she let herself dip her lips down under the covers and meet the warm, soft brunette's for the first time. It was timid at first, with the same uncertainty their love guaranteed from the shy wolf and the widow who was just learning to love. But soon Natasha felt Milena kiss back with a need for her on her lips, so the two drowned themselves within the arms of the other before gradually falling into a calming slumber. For the first time ever, both could fall asleep feeling like they were home.


	8. Chapter 8

A few weeks later

"Right," Clint's stern voice suddenly made Milena perk up and stand a little bit straighter. "So today is all about... control," the Hawkeye nodded towards the girl standing across from him. In her eyes he could see focus. Determination. But also the unmistakeable look of fear she was trying to hide.

As Clint and Milena started sparring to warm up, Bruce and Natasha could be seen intently watching through the glass outside. She slyly smirked when Milena successfully executed her signature move: Black Widow's thigh choke, and it brought both her and Clint to the ground right in front of them.  
"You know I wouldn't mind seeing you do that more often," Natasha seductively whispered into her hearing piece so Milena could hear her comment. "Especially when you're wearing spandex /that/ tight."

Milena blushed profusely when she heard Natasha say those words but didn't notice when Clint managed to unlock himself from her grip and pin Milena down. "Do I have to get you to leave?" he looked at Natasha through the glass. "You're making her lose focus, Natasha."

Before he could turn back down to Milena he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as she kneed him roughly before rolling out and up from under him. "How's that for focus?" she giggled and the two went back to throwing punches and kicks.

"Good. I'm getting positive results. This might actually work, Natasha," Bruce turned to the fiery redhead and smiled in relief. It was Bruce's idea to try controlling Milena's wolfy alter-ego by hooking her up to Natasha's voice through an earpiece. It came to him after watching the footage from that eventful night when Milena freaked out for the first time and went rogue before Natasha got her back to normal. "If everything goes to plan," he had said a few weeks earlier while explaining his theory to Fury. "We can keep her under control enough to go on missions with Natasha's voice guiding her."

That was a few weeks ago, and ever since then they had just been sparring and nothing more. Bruce was excited and deeply interested in the experiment of course, but he was the one that could actually understand the fear and confusion going through Milena's mind about this whole situation. He didn't want to rush her at all for her sake and also for everyone's safety. The Other Guy had hurt people. He had killed people. Bruce didn't want Milena to ever live with the guilt he was plagued by ever and Natasha was also very grateful for his patience. But so far, Milena had shown more progress with the earpiece as she had built her way up from sparring with trainees, to field agents, to other teammates with a pretty impressive record of wins. But they had all agreed that today was the day they would go all the way; they were going to unleash the hound.

"Good work, Milena," Clint reassuringly patted her shoulder gently and gave her a nod. He knew she was nervous about today just by looking at her and he wanted to make sure she was as comfortable as possible.

"Are you ready?" Milena heard Natasha in her ear. Her voice was questioning, and Milena could tell Natasha was trying to sound supportive without coming off as pushy. She simply nodded and closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She didn't want to fail at this today, but she was also scared that she might not be strong enough. For a split second she remembered being eaten up by fear and pure terror when she had transformed only a few weeks ago. It was the most horrifying experience ever as she was too paralyzed with fear to even control not just her body, but her mind as well. Her thoughts were different as her alter-ego; they were so barbaric that she had forgotten who she was for a while. But then she had seen Natasha and everything good seemed to be restored in her. That gave her hope. "I can do this," she whispered to herself.

She remembered everything leading up to this moment with her team in the last few days or so. "We don't want your transformation to be triggered by fear anymore," Bruce had explained to her reassuringly. But Milena still squirmed in her seat as she felt her pulse thumping behind her ear.

"Yes," Steve spoke up at the table. The star-spangled man with a plan looked like the poster boy for icecream and cotton candy; Milena couldn't help but brighten up whenever he was around. "The last thing we want is to put you in any kind of danger or make you feel uncomfortable, Milena." He glanced around at everyone at the rest of the table as well as if to warn them. His gaze stopped on Tony and his jaw set.

Tony seemed to get the point when he nodded, yet his reaction was sincere. "You know, Milena, I can talk to ol' eyepatch if you want. There's no rush at all," he put his hands up and Milena could tell he was being serious about this.

"No," she politely declined. "I really appreciate it, Tony. I appreciate all of your support. But this is my decision. I want to go through with this." Underneath the table she felt a smooth, slim hand dance around hers before squeezing it gently. She looked up to the person on her right to meet those green enchanting eyes. Natasha. All Natasha had to do was give her a slow bow with her chin to communicate with her. "Are you sure?" she seemed to ask silently at the table.

Milena squeezed Natasha's hand back. "I don't want to stand around being useless anymore while you guys put your lives on the line every day. I want to be a part of this team."

"That doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up to do it," Bruce explained getting this concerned look of understanding in his soft eyes. Milena instantly knew what he meant. The fear that ran through her veins when she transformed still had a dull beat coursing through her. It seemed to paralyze her for an instant before she felt something squeeze her hand even harder. That was the worst feeling in the world: Thinking she lost Natasha, losing control, forgetting who she was... But that power she suddenly had in her muscles and in her bones just called for her to destroy. She felt like her jaw had the power bulldozer and something in the back of her mind was just telling her to use it. She knew that she could kill people.

"What do you suggest, Bruce?" Natasha said a little more quieter than she usually would. This subject was just as sensitive for her as Milena. Her fear radiated off of her worse than Tony's cologne when he wore too much.

"We need to associate it with a feeling just as powerful, of course, but yet it has to be positively stimulating in a way. Not fear. Not destruction. Not, uh, anger," he chuckled and Milena remembered about the Other Guy. They hadn't had the "pleasure" of meeting yet, but she was sure they would once Milena could go on missions. Word was that Bruce had him a bit more controlled now but Milena was still as cautious as ever; she was told to be constantly. It wasn't that she had ever angered Bruce. Hell, she could never make him angry: He was too sweet and, well, Bruce; Milena was just as gentle and loving. The two got along like old friends, but that didn't stop Natasha and the others from taking at least minimal precautions. Tony had an emergency pod of a sort for Bruce in his lab just in case anything happened. The last thing they wanted was an angry green beast of destruction ticking off a nuclear powered giant wolf.

Milena blinked back into the present remembering Bruce's words. Ever since they had sat down and discussed visualization, breathing techniques, and trying to focus on any calming feelings Milena may be able to find in her alter-ego. It seemed nearly impossible, but then Milena remembered a time a few years ago when she was alone in the wild. The sky was blue and the sun tickled her whiskers in an amusing way. There were no humans within hundreds of miles and that was when she liked it best out there: When she had nothing to fear. The dirt beneath her leathery paws felt like her second skin as she trotted across lakes and fields. There was a valley she loved to always come back to. It made her feel calm being alone there. It made her feel free.

Freedom was the feeling her and Bruce instantly decided upon. Amidst all of the vicious feelings that came with the transformation, Milena never felt more free than when she was alone sprinting through the woody valleys just chasing the sun till the end of every day. "You can do this," Natasha spoke in her ear just when she needed it. Milena closed her eyes as she tried to focus on letting her hair lose; feeling her fur blow through the wind without a care. She tried to imagine herself rolling down grassy hills and pouncing at unsuspecting rabbits just to scare them. It was a dog's life, but not the bad kind. It was the endless kind.

After what seemed like hours of concentration, Milena finally found herself not needing to think about those feelings. Suddenly she was smelling things with even more detail and depth than before. She had super-human senses before even in her human form, but now she could smell fresh bread from a bakery all the way in Brooklyn. Her nose started twitching in all directions and she instantly picked up every single individual smell and its strength within a ten mile radius. She felt her nose and the front of her face seem to reach out for it like it was trying to grab onto something. Her snout.

Then she could feel her ribcage expand and her legs tighten up with an enormous strength. And her paws on the ground spread out free on the ground. She felt her tail protrude and a sudden feeling of balance centered her. Her skin warmed under her blanket of fur as it freed itself into the air and her ears perked up in tall triangles. Just like her nose, she was suddenly picking up sounds she couldn't even hear before: the dripping of a faucet five miles away, a man dropping three coins on the ground in a coffee shop, and rats scurrying with food in their mouths deep underground in the subways.

"Open your eyes, Milena," she heard Natasha say in a breathy whisper. Blinking her eyes open, the first thing Milena focused on was the redhead beaming in front of her. Her mouth was slightly parted in a smile and wisps of red hair centered her angular face. She nodded slowly at her. "Milena?" she cautiously breathed when she saw the animal in front of her staring her down with an interested gaze.

She knew what that meant. Milena. She knew what that name was when it left the redhead's lips. It was her name. She was Milena. She was free of fear.

"Milena." She heard a different, more masculine voice say quietly from the opposite side of the room. Focused face. Blonde, dirtied hair. Assertive and glassy blue eyes. It was Clint. She had recognized him. Milena bowed her head down slowly as if to communicate with him. "Okaaaaay," Clint put his hands up as he shuffled to the side against the wall towards some equipment. He never turned away from Milena, but he made sure he never looked like he was going to attack her. "You up for some... fetch?" he grabbed a giant stick the width of his bicep and the length of his leg from behind him.

"Nice try bird-brain," a small voice thought in Milena's head. But she still had the focus of a human it seemed and she wasn't about to roll over for him just because she was part dog. Her ears twitched as a response and she hoped he got the picture.

"FETCH, GIRL!" he threw the stick underhanded only a few dozen feet across the training room and it was caught mid-air in the wolf's trap before it could even really start flying down. "Nice," he commented awkwardly and Milena could tell it would be weird giving it back to him, so she twisted her neck to the side repelled it back to Clint with the force of her jaw. The slobbery wood hit his chest hard on causing him to practically fall backwards.

Milena could hear Bruce and Natasha laughing uncontrollably from the other side of the glass. "You kinda deserve that one, Clint," the redhead snarkily said and rolled her eyes.

"Ew, yeah, I guess I do," Clint confessed as he stood up trying to brush the wet saliva from one of his prized tight black shirts. "That was good, though." he looked up at Milena and nodded his head while her piercing yellow eyes still stared him down. She followed him as he set down the stick.

"Hey, Clint, throw it again," Natasha told him as she studied Milena's movements. It was a long night of fetch since Milena could pretty much never lose energy and Clint was determined not to be outbeat by a dog. So Natasha watched as the stick went back and forth across the training room in all sorts of creative ways from her bestfriend to one she was kind of hoping to one day call her girlfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

"волчица," Natasha's deep voice caught Milena's attention. She must have been staring off for too long and redhead gently placed her hand on her shoulder.

волчица. Only Natasha ever called her that; it was usually when they were alone. The two just didn't know how the others would react if they knew. Natasha calling her "wolf" in Russian would seem pretty weird, but Milena knew that for her and Natasha it wasn't like that. It was so much more than just an animal. It was a part of her and who she was. Milena still felt very conflicted with accepting that part of her identity, but then there was Natasha. There was Natasha, who called her волчица not to address the monster she feared she might become, but because Natasha had openly accepted her for who she was and she wanted Milena to do the same.

Their relationship was slowly evolving; it was mainly due to the fact that the two partners were just naturally quiet and reserved people, but there was also their jobs and the scary fact that on the team they were on they had less time for relationships and plenty of time for nearly getting themselves killed. But both Natasha and Milena were glad to be taking it slow. With Milena adjusting to her new life and Natasha trying to adjust to her newfound feelings, the two were an awkward pair that seemed to just fall together in just the right way that they were right for each other; both really savored the feeling of slowly developing feelings for the other.

"волчица?" Natasha repeated again a little louder this time.

"Yeah?" Milena snapped her head around and blinked back into reality. They were on a plane in the back. Up front, Clint was piloting while Tony, Steve, and Bruce were going over intel and plans.

"You're nervous," Natasha concluded and gave her a side eye look rolling them a bit when Milena opened her mouth to protest. "And don't say you're not. But it's completely normal to be. I still get nervous and I've been on thousands of missions. This is your first, волчица, it's not healthy to try and suppress what you're feeling."

Natasha's hands rubbed her back in slow, circular motions. Leaning in subconsciously so her head was on her shoulder, Milena closed rested against her. "Like you've never done that?"

"Hey I was trained to so having no emotions is second nature to me," Natasha defended herself with a slightly sarcastic tone. She suddenly bent down and pecked the brunette's temple. "But, I am working on that." The first step towards getting comfortable with emotions, Natasha had found, was acknowledging their existence. But there had been some truth with what she said about being trained not to. A lot of truth, actually. But it was a past she wasn't exactly proud of. There were only a few brief moments that Natasha had mentioned the Red Room to Milena; it was on those rare occasions when both of them found they couldn't sleep at night. So at 3 in the morning Natasha found herself talking softly in Russian to the attentive brunette that listened with all the understanding in the world. But coming out was still hard for her, and it definitely wasn't something that would be spilled out all at once. There were so many lives that she had stolen and on so many accounts she knew they were innocent even as their blood dripped from her hands.

"Hey! You gals ready? Or is suiting up going to take an extra 20 minutes for hair and makeup as well? Cause we can get Bird Brain here to make a fly by and come back later," Tony interrupted their moment.

"You wish, Tony," Milena pulled herself up to suite up. "But I don't think that little request would get past Cap here cause it doesn't exactly follow the route we're supposed to take on the map. And you know how much he loves his maps."

"Well, what can I say? I'm not exactly used to using technology and paper is just more my style so I'd like to stick with it," Steve shrugged. Really at this point he knew it was all he could do when being picked on; especially if it was Tony and Milena. But truthfully he was happy that Milena felt comfortable enough around him to kick him around every now and then. It reminded him of Bucky in a strange way. He would always shove him around a bit for laughs, but just like Milena, he always could count on Bucky to pick him up and carry him a hundred miles if he ever really fell down too hard. Tony probably would laugh first, but Steve concluded he would probably do the same as well.

"Then I guess we'll just have to ditch old capsicle here and on the way back we can stop and get some Chinese food."

"I don't think they call it Chinese food, Tony," Bruce chimed in. "Wouldn't it just be food to them?"

"Only you, Bruce," Milena pointed out as she began to slip into her suit. Modeled after Natasha's, but not nearly as tight, it was lightweight and flexible enough so she could transform comfortably while also providing the protection she would need in her human form from bullets and most other common weapons. Like every other agent the dominant color that covered about 85% of her suit was black. The rest was six long strips (three on each side) that wrapped around her back to her front. They roughly outlined where her ribs would be in a pointed triangular shape on the ends so that they resembled scratches from her claws. They were the exact yellow of her eyes (an idea that Natasha pitched in).

Shanxi, China was home to one of Hydra's bioweapons bases. "Hell's Heaven" it was called, and Milena wasn't sure if her teammates trusted her enough to make it her first mission or they were trying to kill her.

"You ready?" Milena almost jumped when she felt Natasha rest her hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you've trained me well, Natasha, don't worry."

"It's not me you need to worry about, волчица," Natasha never broke her eyes away from Milena's yellow ones as she reached around her upper back. Milena nearly gasped when she felt her hands rest on the back of her neck. She tried to do anything but blush before she felt Natasha reach for the zipper on the back of her suit and pulled it up with a smirk sitting on her fully pouted lips. She was so tempting to her, but her heart started beating even faster when she remembered their teammates were up at the front of the plane. "Don't worry, I've got you."

"Natasha-"

"I've. Got. You," she mouthed before dropping her hands away from her neck and helping her slip into her parachute.

"Okay, kids, it's time to go kill some neo-Nazis," Clint began to steer the plane down and they knew they were nearing the drop site. This was it, and she could already begin to feel the monster inside of her stirring. 

She felt the dirt between the toes of her paws as she flexed them, revealing her sharpened claws. The air blew the fur around her face away from her eyes as she looked into the wind; it brought so many different smells into her nose. She whipped her neck around when she picked up that familiar scent of lavendar and cinnamon & vanilla... and blood. Her eyes dilated as they focused on the red that stood out in the dark and blackness all around them. Natasha.

"You mind?" her voice echoed and Milena's ears perked up when she spoke asking for permission to walk towards her. Going down onto her front legs and then lying down, she felt Natasha effortlessly jump up onto her back and reach down to pat her right shoulder with her hand.

And with that, they were off. Milena felt her whole body work in a synced movement as she propelled herself off the forest floor and sprinted with full speed. Her strong, hind legs forced her to accelerate even more when she heard a familiar whizzing noise above her. Tony. "No way, Nat, that is so cheating. You can't hitch hike it's totally against the rules."

"This isn't a race, Tony," she heard Steve groan and she could see and smell him running up beside her about forty feet to her left as he used his shield to machete his way through forests of bamboo on his motorcycle.

"Just try to keep up, boys," Natasha's voice would have been lost in the wind if it weren't for the earpieces. Milena grinned and began to run even faster as she felt Natasha cling onto her neck more firmly, almost telling her to speed up.

"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSH!" a giant green figure flew over her and the entire earth shook when he landed on the unfortunate group of hydra soldiers that had just emerged from over a hill they were soon approaching.

"Yeah, see?" the annoying playboy's voice rang in Milena's ear. "It's totally not fair when people like Bruce are playing by the rules and you just aren't. See now you made him mad."

As they reached the top of the hill, Milena could spot the hydra base down below and the thousands of heavily armed soldiers surrounding it. A hydra plane flying overhead seemed to be leading them into battle as it soared above the group in their immediate direction. Releasing fire down below into their path, it apparently angered the Hulk as he catapulted himself up into the air and tackled it down to the ground and viciously started ripping out its parts and people inside.

"Aw, thanks, buddy," Tony cooed.

"Stark, stick with the mission," Steve demanded and then soon Iron Man only had to unleash fire on the army below for a few seconds before most of them were down.

"I don't think I'm the one you should be telling that to, Capsicle. If I were you I would be more concerned about Fluffy over there."

Hearing what Tony said, Milena couldn't hold in a growl that was rumbling deep inside of her and accidentally caused Natasha to shift around on her back.

"Whoa," Natasha could sense her uneasiness. "Easy, girl." She rested her hand on her shoulder bone as she dismounted off and down to the ground so gracefully she landed on the shoulders of one of the remaining hydra soldiers and took him down with her. She made it seem so effortless as the man laid groaning and clutching his broken collar bone.

Setting her eyes on Tony, who she could tell was smirking underneath his suit, the firey redhead didn't hesitate to pull out one of her guns an pointed it towards him as she pulled the trigger twice. Hitting both of his shoulders, she knew it wasn't even going to dent his suit, but it definitely caught Tony's attention.

"And if I were you, Tony, I would be more worried about what I'm going to do to you for saying that. And it actually looks like Milena's already taken care of your job." Natasha retorted. Looking back over her shoulder, she met those intense yellow eyes that softened in their brief gaze.

"Right. Stick with the mission," Milena thought to herself and gave a sharp nod, knowing what Natasha had meant when she had spoken to Tony. In an instant, she felt her beastly legs throw her into the battle as she charged right into a wall of fire coming at her. But, it wouldn't be her that was sorry. Never slowing down, she ran through the bullets like they were specks of floating dust and she started grabbing at the soldiers' body parts like they were her toys. Taking off arms, legs, and anything that her teeth wrapped around first, she was crazier than when she played fetch with Clint.

Nearing the base where it was the most heavily guarded at the gate, hydra soldiers were beginning to panic when they noticed their machine guns were only making her angrier as she growled at them. But as they ran away, Milena began to chase them around like they were toy cars. One poor guy who couldn't find it in himself to flee and who Milena had seen shooting at Natasha was unfortunately backed into the wall and could barely scream before he found fangs bigger than his wrists digging into his neck's arteries, instantly killing him.

"Hey, Jarvis, I think that means she probably wants in. A little help?" Tony noticed the giant gate was locked.

"Of course, sir," Jarvis responded a second before he could hack into the system and unlock the gates.

By the time she had been let in, Hulk's smashing had taken out most of the base and Tony could fly over and survey the area to analyze the weapons inside in an instant. With not much fighting to be found after a while, Milena had resorted to trotting around the base's perimeter with her nose close to the ground as she tried to sniff out any surviving soldiers left that she could round up.

A whistle she heard from afar caught her attention and she looked up with her ears at attention. "'волчица!" she heard he being called from the top of the hill, and just Natasha's voice confirming she was okay was all she needed to hear as she sprinted toward the redhead that stood with open arms.

She opened her eyes to the warm yellow sky that told her it was twilight. She also felt warmth all around her, but a cool breeze rushing just above her body as if it was blanketing her. She moved her fingers. She moved her toes. They were smaller. Realizing she was back in her human body, Milena jolted upright so suddenly she soon found two small hands gently pushing her back down.

"Hey, take it easy, no reason to rush," a voice above her laughed.

"Nat?"

"Right here, волчица, like I said I'd be."

And when she turned over to her side she saw those green eyes pop out at her even amongst the hundreds of blades of grass they just couldn't hide behind. Her head rested on her hand that was propped up on her elbow as she casually laid herself out next to her.

"Why are you laying in the grass?"

"Well," Natasha looked away from her, but not before Milena could spot a hint of a blush creeping up onto her cheeks. "how else am I supposed to watch the stars with you?"

Was this... a date? Milena's brows furrowed with confusion before the idea set in and suddenly a huge smile grew on her face and she couldn't control herself as she rolled on top of the redhead next to her as she pulled her into a kiss. Natasha's soft lips kissed back with fervor as Milena had hoped and she dared to nibble at her bottom lip as she rolled both of them onto the brunette's back instead.

"Sorry, I'd rather be in charge," she broke the kiss to admit with a smirk before going back to kissing the gorgeous girl beneath her.

"I know," Milena giggled between kisses and she placed her right hand in the curve of Natasha's slender neck and felt the heat of her skin and the speeding pulse from her veins. Her other hand was buried in the silky red hair while their lips danced together underneath the stars.

When they finally calmed down they couldn't help but laugh as the two laid back down to gaze up at the blanket of stars that had just appeared above them.

"Oh my God," Milena suddenly realized something and went pale. "Where is everyone? What happened to the mission, Nat?"

"Calm down, волчица," she grabbed her hand in the grass and squeezed it gently. "The mission was obviously a success, you and Bruce tore up the base quicker than expected actually. Tony collected all the biochemistry weapons he's going to study back at home, Steve didn't even break into a sweat, I got kinda bored, actually, and so Clint took the guys out for Chinese food and I thought we could do something fun... alone..."

"How long did you tell them we'd be?"

"Let's just say I told them not to come back to pick us up until they got their fortune cookies."

"Fortune cookies are American."

"Exactly," Natasha deviously laughed.

"How long until you think they catch on?" Milena smiled as she looked up into the sky and couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the millions of stars that were hanging above them and how they seemed to go on forever.

"Hopefully not for a very long time, волчица."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** thank's for reading this story! I originally started writing this on quotev, so if you want to read some chapters I haven't posted here yet as well as earlier updates make sure to follow me on that site. My username is arabella nadie. I'm out of school for the summer, so hopefully more frequent updates will be coming soon.

"Pepper, I don't know about this," Milena whined as the blonde pushed her down in the chair right in front of a mirror.

"I promise that you're going to feel like a princess when I'm done, Milena. Tonight is all about you," Pepper Potts smiled back in the mirror. "Plus I already shaved my legs, exfoliated, /and/ put on a dress for this."

The two laughed as Pepper started gently brushing down Milena's hair. Pepper was probably one of the fastest friends Milena had ever made. Milena was in no way calling her old, but she liked to imagine that Pepper was like the mother-figure she never had.

"It's not like I can remember much about her," Milena had been explaining to Natasha one day on the roof at 3 in the morning. Middle-of-the-night conversations had sort have become their "thing"; it was quiet with no one else awake and the city hundreds of feet below them. And the lights of all the buildings lit up the skyline of New York in a way that Milena supposed would be a part of a cliche romantic movie, but she hadn't told Natasha what she thought about that specifically. "I mean I was six when it happened, and I'm not saying it's a good thing or that I'm glad, but..."

Milena struggled to find the words to describe what she had spend feeling throughout her entire life. Even when she was in the wilderness for seven years and her human consciousness seemed to have died, she still had a feeling of both numb loneliness and freedom sitting deep within her.

"It would hurt more if you remembered," Natasha said softly with a look of empathy in her eyes. She had recognized that feeling in Milena's yellow eyes: That guilt that came with not being able to pinpoint exactly why you weren't sad in the first place. It ate at her too, but she hated to see Milena letting it consume her as much as it did. "I lost my parents when I was very young as well."

Milena suddenly shot her eyes up to see the redhead's intense green ones staring off in deep thought. Even with the bond the two shared, it still didn't change the fact that Natasha was an extremely private person. She had only talked about her training in the Red Room briefly, but her parents and childhood before then was never something that had come up before. And Milena wasn't the one to ask about what she already knew might be a complicated subject. But Natasha had just opened up at least a little bit, and so she knew how much that showed about how she felt about her.

When Milena refocused and opened her eyes, she hardly recognized the person staring back at her. Apparently, it was her. Pepper had really outdone herself; Milena could see her smiling excitedly above her shoulder in the mirror. She had somehow managed to curl her hair into perfect waves and they were parted down the middle of her head to frame her face in a very flattering way. A bit of black mascara on her lashes had made her soft doe eyes so much more... feline in a strangely feminine way and captivating more than surprising like when she had first seen them.

"Wow, Pepper, I look... pretty good, actually."

"Wrong answer," Pepper rolled her eyes and shook Milena playfully by her shoulders. "You were supposed to say, ' Pepper, oh my gosh, I'm so beautiful!' and then I was going to say, ' That's because you are beautiful', but now I can't because you ruined the moment!"

"Sorry," Milena shrugged her shoulders as she tried to carefully get up from her seat when she remembered she was wearing heels for the first time, and they were four inches for some ungodly reason. It also didn't help that she was wearing a floor length gown either. It was a light, pastel yellow dress that wasn't clinging too tight to her body, but rather followed her curves down her side and gradually flared out just a bit as it nestled around her feet. It was completely sleeveless and had a plunging neckline that Milena was pretty self-conscious about, but Pepper had talked her into wearing it anyway.

The gala was being held in her honor that night; it was completely done by Tony (meaning that Pepper organized everything and Tony just paid for the bill). Apparently a few reporters were going to be there to introduce her to the public as a new avenger and then there was going to be a ball... with actual dancing. Milena didn't really know what she feared most: Saying something completely stupid in front of the press or tripping in her heels on the dance floor. All of the possible scenarios where she embarrassed herself completely ran through her head. She could knock over the punchbowl (that was a classic), step on someone's foot, panic when being asked a question and just end up laughing nervously at herself while everyone else is silent... Just thinking about how many eyes were going to be on her made Milena almost jump out of her dress and run back to her room to hide, but the only problem was the dress was on way too tight for that to be an option.

"Soooooo," Pepper took Milena's hands into her own and stood in front of her with a grin on her face like she was a little girl gossiping on the playground. Pepper was so cute sometimes. "Who are you going to dance with first?"

"Well I-" Milena's face turned as red as the redhead's she immediately thought about.

"I know Natasha would love to dance with you," Pepper seemed to know exactly what Milena was thinking.

Milena raised her eyebrow. "You mean an assassin's tango?"

"No," Pepper laughed when Milena seemed slightly concerned. "Natasha is an phenomenal dancer; prima ballerina legend."

"Wow," a sad look suddenly grew across Milena's face. Natasha was so unbelievably talented she had no idea how it was possible. Milena could just imagine the redhead confidently strolling into the ballroom and everyone turning their heads in her direction. There really was no flaw about her and Milena had seen how some of the male agents looked at her with pure desire. It was like her green eyes just entranced them. "I'm sure she'll want to dance with a partner who's qualified then," she added with a nervous giggle that turned slightly sour. It pained Milena to think that she could never be the person Natasha really deserved or wanted to be with. Maybe she was just settling with her...

"Milena," Pepper said with a serious tone she usually used to force Tony not to do something stupid. "Natasha only wants to dance with you. I'm sure she'll even be determined to keep you all to herself tonight too."

"Well could you save a dance for me at least?" a deep, but soft voice caught Milena's attention from behind her.

"Steve!" she exclaimed and tried shuffling over to him as fast as she possibly could in heels. "I didn't know if you would come or not; I thought parties weren't really your thing."

"Well, I made a promise that I intend to keep," he smiled at her and held his arm out. A few days prior he had been ever so much the perfect gentleman and offered to escort Milena to the gala. A flood of relief had washed over her then just knowing that one of her best friends would (hopefully) not let her fall flat on her face once she could figure out how to get down the steps without rolling downwards. Steve had the kindest heart Milena had ever had the pleasure of knowing. In some ways he was like her anchor; just knowing that he was hanging on after being gone from the world nearly 10 times as long as she had gave her the strength she needed. And he was the only one she didn't have to explain to what her situation really felt like; it was as if the loneliness she sometimes felt from the unfamiliar world around her was felt by Steve too. They were lonely together.

Being over a foot shorter than Steve, Milena felt very small and breakable next to him at first. But then she realized how gentle his heart was and as the weeks passed Milena had seen Steve in action always keeping an eye out for her: the little guy. Although she had never known him then, that was Milena's little window into the world of Steve Rogers before the serum. It was hard to imagine him all scrawny and ill looking, but Milena could feel it when he spoke about those times that he had endured the struggle of being looked down upon and being cast aside. And that's why he did never take anything for granted; not even the second life he had been brought into after the unfreezing.

"I don't think I'll be able to understand why people nowadays consider this as music," Milena and Steve were both slightly disturbed as they neared the gala up ahead and very loud, screeching sounds that sounded like they had all been thrown into a blender could be heard as they approached.

"I think it's called... bubstep?" Steve guessed with a sour look on his face. The bass in whatever it was called shook the floor; Milena was sure she would have been thrown off balance if it weren't for Steve.

"Not exactly the Andrew Sisters huh, Cap?" Milena poked his side and giggled at his uncomfortable looking face. "Just joking," she reassured him when he began blushing with embarrassment. "I would listen to full night of the Andrews Sisters than whatever this dying cat noise is any day. I'm sure you have a much better taste in music."

"Thanks, Milena," Steve smiled down at her as they stopped and faced the double doors. It was almost time to face the press. "This is your party, you know. Whatever music you request should be playing; not whatever Tony picks out or else it's bound to be horrible."

"Wait," Milena's ears picked up the sound of the music slowly fading. "It's stopped."

"Guess that means it's your cue to go in then."

"Steve, I'm not so sure if I'm ready to do this. What if they're freaked out by me?"

"They're going to love you," Steve assured her. "Milena, you're an incredibly smart, kind-hearted, and beautiful woman." Milena would have almost thought Steve liked her by the way he was blushing if she hadn't really known him that well.

"I was talking about the dog."

"She's a part of you too. And if they can't accept it and see how much good you've made with her then they are not worth your time. Trust me."

"Ok," Milena smiled at the debonair looking super soldier all dressed up in his black tux.

As soon as the two doors opened outward Milena instantly wished Steve had his shield with him. She was blinded by a wave of cameras flashing beams of light straight into her face.

"Milena! Look over here!"

"Smile, princess!"

"How does it feel to be assimilated into such an elite group of superheroes?"

"Did you approach the Avengers or did they recruit you?"

"Sweetheart, look this way."

"Is Captain Rogers your date?"

"Milena, who are you wearing?"

"Why haven't videos of your alter-ego been released to the public yet? What are you trying to hide?"

Milena unknowingly clutched tighter to Steve's arm, pulling him closer as he tried to steer her away from the overwhelming wave of reporters. As she closed her eyes and let Steve guide her past the crowd, she didn't even notice Tony come up beside her and lace his arm into her other one.

"All right, all right settle down!" the billionaire raised his voice to get the press' attention. "This isn't a press conference, it's a gala, which I might add that I paid for, for our newest team member, Milena Telivola. Let's give a hand for her tonight."

Kind of stunned by Tony's outburst at them, the reporters and cameramen hurriedly burst into a round of applause. It wasn't like the playboy Tony Stark to ever turn away the cameras unless it was to focus the attention on himself. This protectiveness he showed for Milena was definitely an interesting story. As the three settled down at a long table filled with the rest of the team, Steve pulled out Milena's chair for her in the center of the table and Tony took her right side.

The questions made the next fifteen minutes the longest of her life. Although Tony had done pretty much everything that he could to settle the press and take a lot of anxiety off of Milena's shoulder's, the swarm of pictures and questions was pretty much unavoidable if they wanted this event to introduce her to the public. Milena was quiet at first, but well-spoken answering the simple questions that asked how she liked being on the team and what it was like working with everyone, but Tony and Steve wouldn't hesitate to skip over the more invasive questions that asked her about her past or her alter-ego in a rude way.

"Milena, do you in anyway see yourself as a danger to the public?" one snotty woman with her hair in a too-tight bun snapped.

"Uhh, well," Milena's cheeks went red and she wished she was near the far end side of the table with Natasha. "I mean, Dr. Banner has been working with me on um.. safety precautions... and so I trust that he-"

"Excuse you, but if Milena was a threat to the public she wouldn't be on the team. Next question," Tony interrupted as he tried to defend her from being bombarded.

After Tony herded the majority of the reporters away, only a few cameramen were allowed left to take pictures of Milena interacting with the other avengers for the rest of the party. The public needed to get used to seeing them all with her as Tony had said. Milena quickly went to find Natasha after she noticed a few candid pictures were taken of her with Steve and Tony.

And there she was just tempting anyone who's eyes followed her into the dark corner she leaned up against. She wore a dark burgundy floor-length dress that outlined her every curve that inched around her body. The way she was standing exposed her left leg and the subtle slit that ran all the way up to her mid thigh which peeked out against the dark color in a scandalous way. Her hair was in loose barrel curls and swept just below her shoulders and her lips perfectly matched the color of her dress; the darker burgundy made them look even more plump against her perfectly porcelain skin. Her eyelashes were thick as she batted them against her face before looking up at the approaching figure in a way that pulled Milena closer.

"I thought I might find you here," Milena approached buy, as always, with some degree of caution.

"Yeah, well, these social events aren't really my thing," Natasha seemed to groan and crossed her arms. Milena's face almost dropped. That wasn't the response she was hoping for, but it was to be expected she supposed. Natasha was a private person and she could definitely understand how she didn't bask in the public's attention like Tony, but a part of her had secretly hoped she would have been willing to dance with her.

"Me either," Milena duly admitted, which was true, but she had been willing to put that aside for the night and try to enjoy it with the person she cared about. Had she been too stupid? Pepper had said otherwise; that Natasha would be more than willing to dance with her, but it didn't appear that way at the moment. "But I was kinda hoping for a dance?" she asked slightly uneasy after Natasha's reaction.

The fiery redhead pursed her lips together and raised one eyebrow as she looked up at the brunette from underneath her hooding eyelashes; instantly Milena felt her breath taken stolen out of her lungs and her knees were glued down to the ground. This was it. She was going to reach for her arm with her delicate hands and sweep her onto the dance floor. Milena was practically shivering already from the feeling of her hands on her open back; the friction of skin touching skin making her heart beat faster and her skin warm up underneath the redhead's touch. And she hoped Natasha would feel the same way too; it would be just as magical and inexplicable for her as it was for Milena every time.

But then she saw her shaking her head. "Sorry, but I don't dance."

Milena's mouth hung slightly open and she blinked rapidly when she felt her eyes start to water. "Oh, I see... But, Nat-"

"Milena," the redhead stood up straight now so that she was towering over the shorter brunette as usual. "We'll talk later. Go dance with Steve," she spoke in Russian with her deep voice just above a whisper as her green eyes seemed to sharpen with warning.

"But I thought-"

"After the party. We can't be seen together now," she said a bit more sternly, her Russian accent thick and unmistakably with warning.

Milena could only stand there looking down in front of her as the assassin waltzed passed her with her heels hitting the floor softer and softer till she could tell Natasha was gone completely. She had left the party all-together. Milena left out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and she felt as if she was going to fall and might have to lean against the wall for support. Everything that had led up to this moment, every kiss and laugh they had shared... Did it mean nothing to her? Was she just playing with her and now she was done? She felt tossed aside when she remembered the serious look of warning in Natasha's eyes. She didn't look at her like she had before with concern and caring affection when they were alone. She looked at her like she did with any ordinary person: to scare them off.

Then suddenly Milena felt her legs start to carry her quickly, speeding up past the cameras in no particular direction. "Milena, wait!" Steve called from behind her when she forced the doors open. She didn't even hear a single one of the press members turn towards her and begin calling her name when she kicked off her heels and picked up her dress as she began running down the hallways at a speed that might have beaten her own in her alter-ego form. She didn't care where she was going, she just needed to get out and think somewhere quiet.

She hadn't exactly planned to wind up in the middle of central park softly crying on a cold park bench around midnight, but somehow she had brought herself here. The trees billowed in the wind around her as the breezes picked up their full branches and caused them to shake open with loud rustling sounds. It was perfect for drowning out the cries she was making. The grass underneath her feet was a comforting kind of familiar; she almost regretted ever becoming human again. Being a wolf was easier on the emotions. She could never be hurt when she was alone, but being human had left her vulnerable.

She was interrupted by a twig breaking about twenty feet away and her ears instinctively perked up as much as humanly possible and she turned east towards the origin of the noise with her eyes focused into the darkness. She almost took off again, but then the wind picked up a familiar scent and brought it over to her. Clint.

"What do you want?" her voice broke and she couldn't hold back the sniffles. It was too obvious that she had been crying.

"I just wanted to say," the archer began to sit down next to her on the bench. "that I know that Natasha can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."

Milena's yellow eyes must've looked even more terrifying when they were bloodshot with tears because Clint almost jolted up out of his seat when she shot him a look of pure anger. "You know?" she hissed at him with her teeth pressed together as she resisted the animalistic instinct to launch her jaw into his shoulder. "Natasha is a pain in the ass any normal day, but you have absolutely no idea about what I'm feeling right now, or even-" Milena cut herself off and Clint's hands moved to catch her in a sort of way when her body suddenly seized. It was like it gave out from under her; she suddenly hunched over and her shoulders started shaking uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, Lena," Clint couldn't hold himself back and he gently placed his hands on her back to try and calm her down. As scared as he was of having to deal with any sort of raging emotions, which was definitely not what he was trained for, he was more worried about the young girl in front of him that he could see was drifting further and further away from thinking straight. He couldn't bare to see her suffering in the way that she was; he feared that she would easily be swayed to make a rash decision and might harm herself if he didn't step in and do something. He would physically restrain her if he needed to as long as little Lena was safe. Nothing else mattered. "Nat shouldn't have handled it the way that she did; it was completely arbitrary, wait no, shitty. It was a shitty move, but it wasn't what you think it was."

It took Clint a few times to distinguish the muffled crying sounds Milena was making sounded out something like "What does that mean?" or another phrase along those lines.

"You love her," it was more of a statement than a question that surprisingly came out of the archer's mouth next and caught Milena by surprise.

"I-I,"

"You love her," he repeated more confidently when he saw her cheeks get all flushed at the idea and he reassured her tender feelings with a sincere look in his sharp eyes. "So try to see it from her perspective. She loves you too."

"Clint-"

"It's not really an argument, Lena, but just listen. She loves you too and trust me I know because Natasha only pushes away people she cares about."

Milena could only sniff and wipe her nose as she listened intently, but it still hurt so much remembering how she had looked at her when she had rejected her in a sense. "She seemed embarrassed to be seen with me."

"More like trying to protect you," he shook his head and a big grin that he couldn't control took over his whole face. "She's got a funny way of showing it, but I know it when I see it. One time she knocked me out to make sure my mind wasn't being controlled anymore; I considered it to be a friendly gesture." But as Milena was still caught staring into the distance with her puffy red eyes, Clint composed himself and the tone of his voice became that of a serious assassin once again. "She's got a lot of enemies, Lena, so she has to be careful with who she's seen with. She always has to worry about who she endangers and with you she's pretty damn worried."

Wiping her eyes one last time, the young brunette gave Clint a small, but whole-hearted smile before quickly wrapping her arms around him in a sudden embrace and then walking away into the darkness of the park at night.


	11. Chapter 11

It was the most frustrating feeling for Milena to keep a human's pace as she sprinted through Central Park. She wanted nothing more than to break out in a full out gallop when she knew her stronger wolf legs could carry her home faster. And into Natasha's arms...

"God damn why does this park have to be so big?" she cursed to herself as she slowed down where four different paths met. She hadn't been thinking when she ran off. She had just wanted to get as far away as possible from everyone and it distracted her from paying attention to where she was headed. She only took a few moments to carefully sniff the air. Her senses weren't nearly as great as they were in her other form, but they were still heightened immensely. Clint's scent led her towards the left and over a bridge. He must've come from this way.

She didn't care how bizarre she must've looked sprinting full speed in a ball gown with her hair probably looking like a demolished birds nest. Natasha wanted her and so she needed to be there. And so everything was meaningless to her in that moment. It was like the world around her was only moving in this agonizing slow motion; the only sound she could hear was her heart beat dragging on and on. Nothing mattered to her except getting where she wanted to be, but that was exactly her mistake.

Maybe she would have heard him rustling in the bushes if she weren't so distracted. Or maybe she would have picked up the scent of fresh blood on his knuckles before it was too late. But the case that turned out to be was the one in which suddenly the petite brunette noticed the ground under her was no longer there; she was falling uncontrollably as she flailed around in the netting that stuck to her. The last thing she remembered after being dragged into the darkness was a sharp pain in her neck and screaming for Natasha to save her.

She felt as if she had been sleeping for days, but yet her eyes were so heavy. The blinding light that also burned the surface of her skin was nearly impossible to ignore, but her eyelids and pounding head begged to sleep some more. Then she remembered Natasha. Her eyes flew open and she jerked up instantly. Her hand felt around her on the ground for anything that might be there, but it only impacted with concrete. It felt like she was being stung behind her eyes and the lights didn't make it any more comfortable, but soon she focused on her surroundings and tried to take it all in calmly like she was trained. Three concrete walls. One made of steel bars. Prison cell. Minimum defenses. "Yes, yes!" she said to herself. She could get out of this easily, or really, her "buddy" could. Milena stood up almost a little too fast and that only made her headache worse. She could hear people coming so the transformation had to be now.

"It's not going to work," a heavy voice echoed off the walls. Going up to the bars to confront the stranger, Milena wanted him to be wrong, but had a feeling he was right. He was dressed in all black (how original) and had his hair slicked back so that his chiseled, yet intimidating, face was exposed, but so was a deep scar that ran across his left cheek. He had an amused smile on his face and Milena felt a low rumbling in her throat. "This," he held up a small glass tube. It had something blue in it. "This serum isn't going to let you transform I'm afraid, so it looks like you're stuck here with me."

"Wha.. What do you want?" her voice was hoarse and she strained her throat just to get out of a couple words. She knew she should have tried to be stronger, but she was caught in a position where she couldn't be. Her heart sunk as the words slowly left her mouth. Natasha would have been ashamed of her. She was ashamed of her too.

But then his face broke out into a devilish smile that set chills running down her spine, and not the good kind. "My little pet, I wish to play a game."

The only time she knew it was another day was when he came in to inject her with the serum. There had been eight so far, but she was sure her entire neck was bruised. She had learned the hard way that resisting was a bad idea. He would order her to get down on all fours like the dog she was so that he could repeatedly kick her in the stomach. When she went down too slowly or refused, he stabbed her with the syringe in other places (usually her shoulder or her back) to force her down. It didn't just seem to prevent her from transforming, but when she felt the thick, burning liquid forcing itself through her bloodstream it seemed to weaken her body and her senses into a state of near-paralysis. She would stare at the ground emptily as he jammed her knees up into her abdomen, but it wasn't the pain that made her cry. No, it wasn't the pain. She let the tears roll down her eyes because she knew Natasha would never succumb to what she did. She felt so ashamed that she let herself be tortured.

"Good pet. That wasn't so bad was it?" he stroked the back of her head like a dog when she finally fell over defeated for the day. "No wonder the Avengers took you in so willingly. You're the most obedient mutt there is, but look." He kneeled down to look straight into her bloodshot yellow eyes. She brought her hands up towards her face to defend herself, but she knew there was no use. "I'm your master now, bitch."

The sound of his skull hitting the metal bars was the most satisfying thing she had heard in forever. She didn't know what came over her, but she liked it.

"Never let them call you that," Natasha had warned her one day when she had failed to prevent Milena from catching sight of a few nasty emails written about her.

"Why not?" Milena had been somewhere else at the time; she was drifting further and further away from Natasha then too. The world suddenly finding out about her after their most recent mission at the time hit her harder than Steve's shield had that one time she snuck up behind him during training. It was a big mistake. "It's what I am isn't it?!"

Surprisingly, Natasha only took in a deep breath and sighed calmly in reaction to Milena's raised voice. "Look at me," she grabbed her chin gently and made her look into those bright emerald eyes. "You're not /that/ because you're mine. And if you ever let them call /you/ that, you're letting them call /me/ that too."

"I'm sorry," she had sniffled as she fell into the crook of her neck.

In that moment that her leg had swooped under her imprisoner's she decided right then and there that she was done lying down. Being strong wasn't just the only chance she had at getting back to Natasha, but when she was strong she felt closer to her. The feeling of loneliness that had enveloped her as she laid down surrendering was gone as soon as she stood up. She was tired of feeling powerless so she let Natasha empower her; it made her fierce despite the serum trying physically to make her body heavy so that she would sink to the ground. Unfortunately, the moment didn't last nearly as long as she wanted it to.

Soon a dozen guns were pointed straight at her through the bars. Oh right, guards... She wasn't exactly in the position to be compromising as her captive drowsily pulled himself off the ground. His nose twitched as the thick blood running down it tickled his face. He cleaned it off with one hand sweep, never taking his eyes off of her own. Even standing up she noticed he still had at least a two feet height advantage. But she wasn't the one bleeding and she didn't plan to either.

"That is not very nice manners," he retorted when she instinctively flashed her teeth. Unfortunately, since they weren't razor sharp in her human form it wasn't as formidable as usual. "I have been such a good host to you, and how do you repay me as a guest? By spilling blood in my own house! Well, my pet, there is much more to spill."

All dozen of the guns clicked at the same time but Milena told herself to keep her feet in place. She wouldn't succumb to them any longer, no, she was tired of being tired. And if this was the end for her, she would rather go standing up against her enemies than kneeling down in front of them. She exhaled.

"Damn right," she heard a familiar voice call back followed by the sound of high pitched winds. In only three seconds all of the guards in front of her laid unconscious or dead. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a thin, long item poking out of one of their necks where the blood was spilling out.

"Clint!" she called out to the archer who had just saved her life as he emerged from the shadows with his signature smirk on his face. But he wasn't done yet. He still had one more locked in with his eyes focused on the figure behind her. One more arrow. One more shot.

Before she could turn around her body was pulled back in a sudden, forceful jolt. The feeling of her hands being locked together in a death grip made her whimper in pain, but as she tried to lean forward the soft skin on her neck met the cold blade of a knife. She held her breath but trembled in fear as she tried to look up and find Clint's eyes.

"I don't think you'll be making that shot now, Agent Barton," his low voice so close to her ear made her shiver.

"Don't hurt her," Clint breathed heavily from behind his teeth.

"Oooh, a little upset I see. She is pretty, don't you think so, Agent Barton? I wonder how she looks all dressed up in red." He pressed the blade up against her harder. She could feel her windpipe being compromised and he forced her to lift her head back.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Clint shook his head in warning and he seemed to pull the bow back more.

His laugh made her flinch at how demonic it sounded. "Oh then what would you make me do, Agent Barton?"

Suddenly a crashing noise above her shook the entire cell and as the man who imprisoned her fell backwards he released her from his hold and she fell forward, failing to catch herself. Gasping for air, she grabbed her throat as if making sure it was still there. But remembering to get back on her feet, as she blinked through the dust and picked herself up she spotted something almost glowing. That dark red hair. Those emerald green eyes.

"Let go of my girlfriend." she growled before the sound of electricity running jolted the man and he fell back down again. And then there she was- Natasha. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lip quivering like she was trying to hold in something as she marched right over his body to Milena and captured her entire body in both arms. The tears Milena was feeling in her eyes weren't from the dust or crying before. No, they were tears of joy, tears of relief, and tears of fear too. But at least now she knew the fear would end. As Natasha whispered comforting things to her and stroked the back of her head the way she wanted to be held gently, Milena suddenly realized she had called her her girlfriend and she started crying even harder.

"Natasha," she seemed to reassure herself that the redhead was real. And as she breathed in her familiar scent of everything she was, she relaxed a little more in her arms.

"Shhh," she kissed the top of her head. Natasha was also feeling a mixture of powerful emotions too. It had been over a week of staying awake trying to find her. It was a week of wanting to kill herself for so many reasons; one being that she had driven her away and gotten her into the mess she was in. It was a week of feeling like she would never find happiness ever again if she never got to see Milena's smile. It was a week of wanting Milena to be alright no matter what the cost. And now that week was over and Natasha couldn't believe she was safe in her arms again. And now she was never letting go.


	12. Chapter 12

"Steve, you're kinda crushing me."

"Sorry," the super soldier released his suffocating grip around the teeny brunette. His hugs, though appreciated, usually ended up being like grizzly bear embraces. And the fact that she had just gotten back from a rescue mission made this hug especially grizzly bear-like.

"No, it's okay," she just couldn't stop shaking her head and she went in to hug him again herself. "I just... missed you, cap."

"We all missed you too, Lena. I was so worried about you but I'm glad you're okay," Steve smiled as he looked down at the young woman that had captivated all of their hearts in such a short period of time, but he glanced at the person who had been captivated the most by her; the person who knew her the most too. Natasha gave him a weary and unsure smile. Was she /really/ okay though? Steve had wanted to go on the rescue mission so badly, but they couldn't draw so much attention.

"Don't scare us like that, kid," Tony walked up to claim his hug next. Normally he would have paid everybody not to mention him hugging someone, but the cap sure was right when he said that they all had missed her. Day and night for over a week they had done nothing but try to find her and worry. No one had gotten any sleep and nobody could even if they wanted to. Tony had turned the entire tower into a search tower basically; he converted all the labs and equipment for reconnaissance, basically, in order to find Milena as soon as possible.

Pepper came up too, and so Milena was being doubled hugged. Pepper had obviously been crying and Milena was sad to see her so... not herself... Pepper was usually so put together, but she seemed to break down right in front of her just now. It wasn't anything she judged her for and Pepper had no reason to be ashamed, but it just gave birth to this thought in Milena's mind about how her individual disappearance had done that. No one had ever worried about her that much, let alone loved her that much either. And yet, here she was surrounded by people who broke all the records in both and still continued to care for her more and more. When Bruce came up to her all shy she realized that this was the first hug they had ever shared and her eyes started tearing up again. Had her absence really affected them all this much?

A few minutes later they let Milena go when they realized she must have been extremely exhausted. Natasha, always by her side, escorted her up to her room so she might finally get some peace. "Do you want me to stay here with you? Tonight?" Natasha touched her shoulder gently. She didn't really know how she needed to approach the situation, but she was sure Milena wouldn't want to be alone. She wouldn't have wanted to be alone if it were her...

"Who was he?" her back was turned to her and her arms were crossed in front of her. She stood directly centered in front of the window. Her voice was low; it didn't sound like her usual self. Natasha recognized this same unfamiliarity agents had after their first missions; after losing their first teammates on an op; after their first kill... "Please," she added with a tone of despair in her voice.

"Dominiko Gyure," Natasha sighed. She knew Milena needed closure, but it still pained her to say his name and remember what he had done. "He's ex-Hungarian central intelligence who now sells knowledge and secrets to private investors like drug cartels and various resistance movements around the world trying to overthrow some government somewhere; that kind of stuff."

Milena just slowly nodded her head. And although she was turned away from her, Natasha could tell that her eyes were watering up with tears and her heart sunk so low she couldn't help but reach out to her. She grabbed her shoulder and turned her around before she desperately took both of her cheeks into her hands. She needed to see hope in her eyes again or else she didn't know if she was going to be able to cope either. "Milena, don't," she whispered softly. "It's over, you made it through."

"No," she jerked her body away from Natasha's and left the spy standing there with her mouth partially opened. Inside her heart she ached just seeing her touch make Milena pull away, but she made herself resist reaching out again. "No, I /did not/ make it through, I let him get to me! I thought I could be strong because you would but I submitted to him as he beat me into the ground, Natasha! That's how easily I broke down; that is how weak I am! I'll just admit it, I was scared and I let the fear win..."

The redhead snapped immediately seeing her yellow eyes darken in her glare. "You don't think I ever get scared? You're not weak for feeling fear, okay? You're human, Milena, and no matter how much you disagree with it, it's a fact. You're human and believe it or not so am I! I'm scared too, so fucking scared, Milena!"

"Well, you don't show it and you don't seem to show anything at all! This never would have happened if you hadn't been so cold, Natasha! I can't believe I thought it could be true, but somehow I did actually think you would want to dance with me just once and you didn't. Okay, so you wanted to protect me? By pushing me away? You're not the only one with people out to get you Natasha but you still see that as a reason not to let anyone in! I just can't believe I was stupid enough to think that you could with me!"

They were both screaming at the top of their lungs now throwing punches at each other mentally although they had separated themselves and stood on opposite sides of the room so it wouldn't escalate to actual violence. But soon Natasha found herself getting closer and closer as her frustration grew. Hearing those words that she feared Milena actually thought about her made the assassin feel both ashamed and angry. Her face seemed to burn and her throat hurt like hell, but her voice was still the loudest as she screamed.

"I know, Milena, I know that you never would have gotten hurt if it weren't for me. And every second since that's all I have thought about and my hate for myself has grown because of it! You don't think I'm mad that I let that happen?! I know I'm not the best with expressing emotions and you deserve better, but that doesn't change the fact that I /do/ actually care about you, and I was going crazy until I had you back! And now, I just want to be here for you, but nothing is so simple with me, is it!?"

"Why?! Why do you care so much!?"

"Because I love you!"

As soon as those words left her mouth Natasha's face turned dark. She had no idea how Milena was going to react and she feared that it would scare her away; that she would walk out on her right now and forever. She couldn't lose her, but then again she felt like she might not have had her in the first place after what she had said.

But instead the brunette who she now just noticed was only inches away from her took her guard down completely. She looked shocked at first and then melted into the cries she let take her away. Her whimpers instantly called Natasha to take a hold of her, but she held back since she wasn't sure if Milena wanted that. She didn't want to make her more uncomfortable. But then the brunette fell forward into her body and the redhead swiftly caught her with her arms. Milena's shivering arms wrapped themselves yearningly around Natasha's lean body and she squeezed the tightest she could while her body was still shaking as she cried into her chest.

"I'm so sorry," Natasha made out from her muffled voice. She squeezed her a little bit harder and then Natasha quickly grabbed her up into her arms and walked her over towards her bed where she set her down. She sat down with her and let the brunette fall forward into her arms once again as she softly stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Shhhhhhh... Go to sleep, I'm not going to leave you," she whispered her soothing words that she hoped would calm her. "I love you I love you, волчица, I love you." Tears were starting to run down her own face very slowly at first like she didn't know how, but then a few more came down faster as she nestled her face into the side of the brunette's head and kept whispering sweet words.

A wave of calm washed over Milena as Natasha's words echoed in her head and assured her she was okay.

She dreamed she was back there; pushed into the darkest, dampest corner of her cell where his voice echoed hauntingly and she was forced to listen to him call her his little pet. She was trapped outside her body while inside she could feel her breaths getting quicker; her lungs were collapsing in while also expanding so that she was being crushed inside-out. She had to move. Her mind told her to flee, but her body was paralyzed. She felt her leg grow heavier as she willed it to move, but it wouldn't budge at the slightest and so she panicked even more.

"Hey!" a voice yelled and it amplified inside her mind. The suddenness of it set her off, at suddenly all the power she had been trying to summon in her legs worked all at once and she kicked them and pushed off her toes. She felt herself hit something solid and suddenly her mind was on full alert.

The sound of Natasha's body making impact with the wall across from her bed made Milena jerk up in her heated sweat. Her panting increased and she felt beads of sweat running down the sides of her face and neck. Her keen eyes focused immediately, and even in the dark she was able to see the last few split seconds of the assassin hit the wall halfway up before falling to the ground. "No...," Milena thought as she realized what had just happened. She had done that. She had sent her flying across the room.

"Natasha!" her senses kicked in and she flung herself up above the sheets and to the floor. She kicked off her feet and dived to her knees near the redhead and instantly grabbed the back of her head into her hands and she searched desperately for signs of life. She took a second to focus; she could hear the dull sound of her pulse when she listened in and Milena relaxed a bit before becoming nervous again and trying to search for her green eyes before finding them closed.

She had hit her head on the wall. Milena looked up and saw a dent in the shape of her skull before she almost forgot to breath. She made herself take her eyes off of it and tried to subside all of the terrible thoughts going through her mind. "Natasha, wake up!" she pleaded; hoping that she would hear her if she were loud enough. "Jarvis! I need help!"

"On it Miss," Jarvis chimed in and the lights turned on immediately. As he was waking all the other avengers, Milena could only pray that they would get there soon enough.

"Hey, hey, hey... I need you to wake up, please," she barely pronounced when she felt the tears coming on again. "I need you, Natasha!" Milena cried out angrily and threw her head back. All she could think of was how much she hated herself as she gently touched Natasha's face and tried to shake her. "Please, Natasha! I need to tell you that I love you dammit!"

As Tony, Steve, Clint, and Bruce all rushed in they found the small brunette in the most fragile state they had ever seen her in. She looked even more scared than when she had been placed in that first room when she awoke as a human again for the first time; she was more scared than she had been when they had rescued her as well. Her body shook as she was hunched over the unconscious redhead. She didn't really know what to do so she was trying desperately to shake her awake while at the same time she seemed hesitant to touch her; it was as if she didn't want to hurt her.

"Milena," Steve let her know he was there as he approached her from behind. She merely sat there crying as he placed one hand on her back and knelt down to examine Natasha. She would be okay; he knew that. She had survived a hell of a lot worse since she was made for it. But he also knew the fear running through her mind right now. When they had been at his old training camp in New Jersey she had followed him on that mission even though the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted him captured. She had helped him get there, and yet that was where a missile had nearly killed them. Steve flinched. He definitely knew what it was like to never want to forgive yourself the moment you see the person you're supposed to be looking out for down and not getting up. She was unconscious then too and Steve could only focus on his urge to need to fix it immediately. But then there was that fear of not having control; of not being able to fix it no matter how much you needed it... That was always there. He faced it head on when he saw Bucky's hand slip from that train... And when he fell, Steve felt like he wanted to go too if he couldn't bring him back.

"She's tough; she's going to be okay, Milena," Clint assured her but kept his voice soft. Milena kept muttering that it was her fault and he knew she didn't care if Natasha was a world-class assassin that had practically escaped death as well as come back from the dead more times than he could ever count. It didn't matter if this wasn't the worst injury Natasha had or would ever have. He knew she could only focus on the fact that she had hurt her somehow.

"He's right," Tony concurred. But still, no one seemed to be able to relieve her of her anxious behavior as she still continued to clutch onto Natasha's hand while never leaving her side.

"I'm so sorry, Natasha, please wake up," she quietly begged as she squeezed her hand a bit tighter. "Natasha?" The redhead's face twitched for a split second... "Natasha?"

Her eyes blinked open slowly and she began to focus as the color also came back into her face. "Nat!" Milena threw her arms around her neck before Bruce politely asked if he could examine Natasha. Flashing a few bright lights into her eyes Natasha could tell from the pounding in her head that he was going to tell her she had a concussion.

"It's a minor concussion," Bruce cleared up. "Natasha, I think you'll be fine."

"She will be, won't she?" Milena's voice surprised her. Her tone was edging aggressive, although Natasha sensed she didn't mean to sound that way.

"Yes, I will," Natasha spoke up for the first time. And although she wasn't eager to stand up, the firmness in her voice told everyone in the room that, as always, she didn't want to be messed with. "Milena, this isn't the first concussion or the last that I've had." Only a few moments now had lapsed between the time she had just woken up and now, but she could tell from the glances Clint had made at Milena and then back at her that she wasn't doing too well. The last thing Natasha remembered was being stirred by Milena flailing and raising her voice in her sleep. She had tried to shake her awake, and Natasha assumed that hadn't ended very well.

But as everyone else in the room started to speak up all at once and agree with Natasha in order to calm down the brunette they all hesitantly watched, her voice bellowed over all of them with such force that it made most of them jump. "But /I/ was the one who caused this one!" Milena sounded so... frustrated with herself.

"I'm not mad at you," Natasha tried squeezing her hand to calm her down. The fact that all the boys were watching them right now didn't even occur to her this time. She just saw that Milena was in distress, and although she might have been told to relax, she couldn't do anything if Milena was yelling at herself on the inside. She was deteriorating right in front of her over something she couldn't have controlled and that angered her in a sense. She didn't like to see that and she wouldn't let it continue. "This doesn't change anything just because you were having a nightmare, Milena."

"Milena, nobody here is going to judge you for it," Steve reassured her.

"We're worried about you, kid," Tony agreed. "No one is mad at all, we just want to make sure you're okay right now; that's all we want-"

"I'M MAD AT MYSELF!" Milena's normally soft voice boomed with so much anger and force that it didn't sound like her at all. She looked like a completely different person too. She was usually quiet and backed away from anything confrontational. And her most "violent" face she had ever shown was when she was threatened. She had always only been defensive if she needed to be since they had encountered her cowering in the bed she woke up in; even her defensive side showed parts of her vulnerability. But this... This side that she now showed was completely aggressive. Her emotions were so overpowering they made her belligerent; turned her into a different person completely. It seemed to startle Natasha the most, and not just because she had a concussion either. Her green eyes were wide with fear as she stared at the girl all of them knew she cared for more than anybody else. And if Milena could do that to the world class assassin, they all knew they were in potential danger.

Tony, Clint, and Bruce quickly cleared a path for her as she marched through and out the door. They could practically feel the steam hitting their faces as it diffused off of her. And her eyes... That's what scared them the most. They were usually a glistening yellow; sharp at times, but more with a keen awareness than something violent. But now her eyes were pointed with her darkened pupils in the center. "Milena, wait!" Steve called and started to go after her before being pulled back by the elbow by Tony.

"Not a good idea Spangles," he huffed under his breath.

"She," the captain glared his eyes at Tony with warning. "is our friend." Before he could bolt out the door this time, Bruce was the one to put his arms up in front of Steve to push him back.

"No, no, he's right, Steve. If we try to confront her she'll see it as if she were being attacked..."

"And then all that anger she has towards herself will transfer over towards us," Clint nodded. "Or rather, /at/ us."

"You don't want to scare the /other/ one."

Steve still had a grim look on his face, but he knew they were right. He knew they all had to be careful whenever Milena displayed any type of strong emotions. It only took one wrong move from anyone to make her feel threatened. And when she was scared, well... That triggered her most powerful defense mechanism. They still needed to work on controlling that with her; even though she had taught herself to transform without relying on fear, it was still the original trigger. Bruce feared she would never be able to control it completely after she had relied on it for so long to survive in the wild.

"Then we need to calm her down," Bruce stated. Everyone else in the room seemed to agree as they eyed each other before their heads all seemed to turn simultaneously towards the strangely silent redhead in the room.

"Where is she?" she asked quite impatiently without even having to look up at any of them after a few seconds of silence had been broken. No one seemed to have an idea as to where she was. Everyone exchanged clueless glances at one another and none of them offered Natasha any productive answers except for a few "uh's" and an anti-climatic "well" from Steve.

"This," Tony chirped up. "Is why we need to put a tracking collar on her sometimes."

Before anyone could really tell if he was trying to be funny and lighten the mood or if he was just being serious and still his jerk-like self, the crackling sound of skin hitting skin made them jump. It actually sounded like a few bones might have been shattered when Natasha's flat palm hit the cheek on the big head of Tony Stark. "Really, Stark?" she snapped at him unamused. "I'm /very/ close to pushing you off the roof right now."

Tony had his mouth wide open as he felt the stinging in his cheek burn more with every second that passed by, Bruce stood awkwardly against the wall holding his hands in front of him, and Clint and Steve tried holding in their fits of laughter when they say Tony's face turning just as red as Natasha's hair. But before anymore anger could be released from the assassin who had just locked in her next target, they were interrupted by a chilling announcement.

"That is where Miss Telivola is, Agent Romanoff," Jarvis piped up. "She is on the roof..."


	13. Chapter 13

Her head was killing her and it seemed to be hitting the sides of her skull every time her feet pushed off the floor. But she had to run faster. She had to hit harder. When she tumbled through the door to the roof she didn't know what exactly to expect. She didn't want to think about it because she didn't want to exactly speak it into existence, but she couldn't help but remember that it was cats who always landed on their feet... Not dogs..

"Milena, DON'T!"

Natasha had never taken action so abruptly; so unprepared... Her trade required her to be stealthy and always two steps ahead of whoever she hunted. This meant she took in everything carefully before planning her next move and just watched everything fall into place; that's how it always appeared to be easy. Natasha knew how she was going to step out of a room victorious before she even stepped in it. She had never just let words come out of her mouth before, but then again she had never felt so out of control before either. Time after time she thought she had had a hold on Milena... That she could protect her the way she wanted to protect her... But the past few weeks alone had shown that Natasha, sadly, wasn't superhuman in the field where it mattered most. The only thing she felt like she /needed/ to do; the girl that had suddenly changed her whole life's meaning could be lost from her forever.

She let the words come out desperately and prayed to herself that she would be there to hear her. She needed her to be there more than she felt that she, herself, needed to exist. "Please," she silently begged whatever divine being might be listening. She had never believed before, but desperate times...

As the spy dug her heels into the ground abruptly to stop herself, her face went from relief and joy to terror and confusion all in a few short seconds. Thousands of feet above the concrete pavement and crowds of people below stood the small brunette her eyes quickly searched for. And she was on the very edge... She stood up straight and still, but she wasn't looking down; this was the first sign that partially relieved Natasha, but then she followed the brunette's gaze into the New York City skyline and into the smoke being blown towards their direction.

If Natasha hadn't taken her entire focus off of Milena she might have thought she was standing there peacefully just to admire the lights starting to brighten the night sky of the city. The wind all the way up on the roof was blowing her hair softly. It wasn't as loud as usual; Milena's black-brown curls seemed to dance up and down on the breezes. The only thing about her posture that broke the calm illusion was the way her fists were bunched up at her sides. She stood facing east where it would soon be darkest since the sun was setting behind them and its golden glow hit their backs. But it wasn't as dark as it should have been. As Natasha focused her keen, green eyes on what Milena was studying, her fists clenched as well at the sight she saw. In the distance, a flickering light seemed to be growing and moving quickly in all directions. As it grew smaller and smaller the more it jumped upward, smoke rose from the tips of it and seemed to be slowly traveling towards them. Fire.

They stood in awe somberly as they watched the Chrysler building burn. Natasha slowly walked up to meet Milena at the edge of the tower while they both remained hypnotized by the flames dancing before them only miles away. "I smelled the smoke from the hallway," Milena tonelessly muttered.

Natasha raised her eyebrow at her, but she didn't want to push her the wrong way. She wasn't easily fooled, but she was also aware that whatever Milena was going through was something she would keep to herself if she tried to pry her way in. It killed Natasha on the inside when she realized she couldn't sweep Milena up and squeeze every horrible thought out of her. She wanted nothing more than to shake it out of her and make her understand how much she needed her. That was what she was ready for when she had been sprinting up several flights of stairs to get to her; she was partly angry with Milena for brushing the subject off so quickly when Natasha knew it was eating her from the inside. "Is that why you really came up here?"

Milena blinked thoughtfully. "It doesn't matter right now," she reflected upon the flames growing larger and larger in front of them. "Jarvis, tell the others to suit up."

"Of course, Miss," Jarvis' voice could still be heard up on the roof of the tower as if he were surrounding them.

The haunting silence that surrounded them afterward told them the disaster unfolding had only recently begun. The sirens of emergency vehicles had yet to be heard, and so the sound of crackling metals and burning papers was carried quite easily through the winds and across rooftops to the two standing there next to one another, yet so far apart. Natasha tilted her head. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yes. It's my job, Natasha," she nodded.

"I'm coming with you then."

"You have a concussion," Milena retorted with nothing but sincerity and worry in her yellow eyes.

"And /you/ have something very serious on your mind you're not telling me," she argued back. "I hate to let you do this without talking about it first... Without settling it first, волчица..."

"We'll talk," Milena grabbed Natasha's hand meaningfully and seemed to be persuading her with her eyes. "I promise. I just can't right now... Not when I'm watching this," she gestured to the sight before them. "Happening right in front of me."

Natasha looked back and forth from one eye to the other. She nodded slowly as she gave her consent, but even still she squeezed Milena's hand back harder to show how firm she was with going through with their planned discussion. "Can I get a ride?"

Milena's smile was small, but it was the first genuine one she had shown since the series of events that had appeared to take away her spirit; so it lit up the emeralds in Natasha's eyes. Stepping back instinctively, Natasha watched with the same undying amazement she had always had as the tiny brunette morphed shortly into a giant wolf before her with a simple nod. Her black fur was tinted with brown just like her hair and her eyes stayed exactly the same as her body changed around her. Her small hands grew three times bigger into strong paws with even sharper claws, her knees shifted downward and bent into muscular hind legs, and her ears grew toward the sky as they pointed and shifted sensitively with every sound heard around them.

Reaching out slowly, Natasha rubbed the soft area behind her ears as she approached her. Natasha couldn't help but break out into a smile when she nudged gently against her hand. Her fur was surprisingly soft in between her fingers. As she petted her she could have sworn her eyes shut closed and her muzzled mouth crept upward into a smile. But before she could really tell, Milena's head jolted upward. Her ears were pressed back as the loud sounds of thrusters went past them.

"You coming?" Tony's mechanical voice questioned them. But from his almost unsure tone and the way he still hovered around the two of them kind of slowly, Natasha could tell he wasn't actually trying to urge them to go. At least, not exactly. There was a slight hint of concern behind his usually playful or sarcastic tone. It took a lot of experience around Tony to tell, but Natasha could hear it behind his words. He was cautious about Milena (as was everybody else probably), and still unsure.

"I've got my ride," Natasha confirmed as Milena bent down and Natasha hopped onto her back without any difficulty.

Tony nodded understandingly before flying closer down. "You might need this," he dropped a small, black object from his hand. An earpiece.

"Looks like team widow-wolf is on the line" she could hear Clint chime in as soon as she placed it in her ear.

"You're welcome," Natasha rolled her eyes. "Now can someone tell me exactly what we're looking at?"

"That would be a fire. A building on fire," Tony quickly interjected.

"It's confirmed," Bruce's voice spoke up ignoring Tony's remark. "Hydra resistance is behind it. Looks like an explosion caused by chemical explosives that have been able to quickly travel across ten floors of the Chrysler building because of some sort of catalyst field."

"You going to come down here and take a look yourself?" Natasha asked curiously.

"Well, I don't think the other guy is up for an encore appearance in manhattan anytime soon."

"No need," Tony interrupted. In the distance, Milena and Natasha could spot his red iron suit floating around the perimeter of the flames. "Looks like they've vaporized some sort of flammable materials within the building and on the outside. It's catching quickly and we need to get these civilians out of here."

"Which floors?" Steve's voice was on the line this time. It was soon followed by the familiar sound of revving engines from behind them. Unfolding as it took off, the quinjet blasted itself following Tony with Steve and Clint navigating.

"Looks like the 60th through the 70th."

Natasha took in a deep breath and grabbed around Milena's neck tightly. "I guess that officially means we're the last ones to get there..."

Milena shifted in place. A part of it was anxious and pulling while the other was apologetic.

"Okay, come on волчица."

Her stomach dropped as they lurched forward. Usually, Natasha never got the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She piloted jets and helicopters, drove motorcycles, and jumped out of planes on a daily basis. But she couldn't say that she'd jumped from rooftop to rooftop across manhattan skyscrapers before. Milena was strong and incredibly fast, Natasha would admit, but for the split second they flew over the backed up streets below them and she could look down, she felt her nerves telling her to hang on tighter. Not once did Milena ever falter, though. She was swift and agile; she didn't just throw herself into the air at the edge of the buildings thousands of feet tall. She was propelling herself strategically at specific angles. Natasha didn't understand exactly how she was so aware of even the smallest extremes all at once, but somehow Milena seemed to be planning every landing she made and every jump she took.

The heights of all the buildings they landed on differed, but sure enough, she landed in a clearing and darted straight into the direction with the least amount of obstacles before hurdling up again into the sky. Natasha didn't have to look up to notice that they were getting closer. The smoke in the air was getting heavier and it burned her eyes slightly. Soon enough the Chrysler building was in front of them as Milena came to a quick stop.

On top of the Chanin building just across from it, the Chrysler was still over 300 feet higher than where they stood on top of the roof. Up close they could see papers beginning to sail out of the windows and something very suspicious around the upper floors. It was nearly transparent, but Natasha's heightened eyesight could just detect the slight blurry and grey hue that was traveling slowly around the building.

Just then, Tony flew around from the other side of the building and into their view. He seemed to be blasting windows open and grabbing civilians before quickly flying them down to the crowd of emergency response vehicles and workers that had gathered down below. The quinjet was also circling around the building and it looked like Steve was running into the building and trying to herd people towards the quinjet, though it didn't look like many of them were excited to jump when they looked down.

"Uh, hey ladies," Tony's voice popped up. "you know, I'm all for equal pay, closing the wage gap, and whatnot, but only if there is an equal amount of work involved too."

"Yeah, one problem: She is a canine, not a cat," Natasha retorted. "I don't think she's very comfortable with climbing, Stark."

"Wait," Clint interrupted. "See those ledges? Can you make them?"

Natasha looked down at Milena who had turned her neck back towards her and the way her eyes narrowed and her shoulders shifted and moved Natasha up and down slightly told her that she wasn't too comfortable.

"Oh, you mean the scary looking bird heads jutting out on the sides of the building?"

"Yeah... She'll be fine."

"Well," Natasha sighed before lowering her voice so only Milena could hear her. "Only if you're sure, Milena. I don't want you to-"

Natasha feared that she swallowed a bug as soon as Milena had taken off full-speed straight for the edge of the building. Glancing behind her, she could barely make out the hints of a helicopter's propeller coming into view on the opposite side as it ascended. It was a news helicopter.

"Don't worry about it okay?" Natasha had to raise her voice high since the wind had picked up and it was even worse at the speed Milena was running at. She gripped deeper into Milena's fur and was practically pulling at her skin in order to stay on. As the wind was beginning to pick up from the helicopter, it was hitting them face-on much harder as Milena's legs started working in hyper mode. But they were getting closer to the edge, the helicopter was almost directly above them, and Milena did not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. "You're okay. You're okay, Milena, you gotta do this," Nat hoped her voice was strong enough over the whistling winds that were filling her throat and choking her now. Milena seemed to hunch down even more; Natasha feeling her shift her body inward automatically laid her body as close to Milena's as she could. She could feel her spine hunch upward and down under her stomach as she opened up her body in the air and retracted again and again. It was so much different than even riding horses. Bareback and hanging on for dear life, she could feel every single one of Milena's paws hitting off the ground; they seemed to be barely touching at this point as if they were flying. And with Natasha's encouragement they were flying even faster. 50 more feet left... 25 feet... 5...

She kept going up. Despite the fear growing in the back of her mind that was trying to convince her that gravity would soon bring them down, they just kept ascending higher and higher. But the helicopter was almost directly above them and it didn't seem to be following them upward.

"They're not going to make it," Clint exhaled a breath he had been holding in for too long. Him and Steve had almost completely forgot what they were doing when they saw that helicopter come into view behind Milena and Natasha before the pair quickly sped ahead of it. "the helicopter is too low."

"Well maybe," Steve grabbed his shield as he walked towards the where the doors were down and papers and smoke were blowing in from the outside. "they need a little nudge." And releasing his shield out into the open air he set his focus directly on the landing skids of the helicopter flying towards their direction that was coming so close to blocking Milena and Natasha from their view; that wouldn't be a good thing... It was an easy shot that was confirmed by the high pitched sound of metal hitting metal. It hit the side of the right landing skid just where his eyes had set and soon the helicopter was tumbling off balance before eventually straightening out once again while still hundreds of feet above the ground.

The way was finally cleared out as Milena was now able to focus on the ledge only dozens of feet in front of her. The head of a bird of prey was one of many that decorated the sides of the Chrysler building now set ablaze; it would be impossible for any normal human to make out the dark colored falcon like heads amidst the smoke swirling thickly around them now. Instinct took over as she prepped for landing and her front legs reached forward revealing two sets of armed paws; her canine claws sharper than most.

They sunk into metal successfully, but to say it wasn't painful would be a lie. Milena's yellow eyes darted back and forth as her hind legs dangled off the edge and she realized she was in fact too big. She was helplessly pushing off air, yet she couldn't help but try harder although it was only exhausting her. All the while, Natasha was nearly being bucked off her back as she tried coaxing Milena to stay calm.

"Hold on! Just hold on!" she pleaded and quickly tried to assess the situation so they could get out of it faster. "Hmph!" the agile redhead threw her body forward and spun 180 degrees while upside down. "I'm coming!" she took no spare moment as she forced herself to quickly gain her balance while she ran towards the flailing giant wolf that looked like she was trying to keep her nose above water by this point. She didn't know how much she weighted exactly (definitely not her weight as a human) but she didn't let herself falter as she took hold of her trembling arms right above her paws she was desperately trying to force further into the metal ledge. "Just pull Natasha," she barked at herself and she bit down hard on her bottom lip till she tasted the familiar metallic taste of blood; her heels dug as far into the ground as she could while every other muscle in her body pulled backward.

As soon as Milena felt her back legs hit solid floor she pushed as hard as she could. She nearly forgot her strength and with so much force on top of the now small redhead in contrast to herself and she let out a painful groan. Through her yellow eyes she saw her red hair sprawled out in a messy halo. She laid there stunned for a few moments, but then noticed her face was crunched together. "She's hurt," Milena shook herself and lifted her sore body off almost instantly despite the pain it caused her limbs.  
"Please be okay," she silently said as she used her nose and snout to gently try and push Natasha's left hand up. She couldn't go to sleep she still had a concussion. Milena softly whimpered and shook her head back and forth; her belly contracted with her deep but quick breaths that came from her growing anxiety.

"Huh!" Milena jumped as her heavy breaths were joined with another's. Natasha sat up quickly and rolled her hands through her sweaty hair briefly before meeting Milena's yellow eyes with her green ones. They were alarmed. But then they settled as she realized what was going on. And suddenly they focused the way she appeared in so many pictures. Her two eyebrows seemed to wander closer together and they narrowed with her emerald eyes. She had a job to do, and Milena knew then that she was going to go through with it. "I need to help civilians out. You lie low, okay?"

There was a corner on the edge of the building just Milena's size where she hobbled over and could lean on the building. She nodded slowly, her eyes wanting to close, as she felt some sort of sticky syrup run down her left hind leg.

A pool had formed under her leg sticking her two hind legs together and her tail to her two hind legs because of how still she laid. She hated feeling so helpless; it was like a chain that held onto her and followed her everywhere. And as the minutes passed she knew that with every single one Natasha and her other teammates were saving lives, yet she was stuck on the side of the building like a stranded cat in a tree...

Her ears perked up and she could have sworn she heard the rumbling of the building even before she felt it. Under he skin she felt the tremors of it leaning a millimeter closer. Then another. The vibrations grew stronger till they weren't vibrations at all... They were tremors followed closely by the growling of steel rubbing steel that shook Milena's ears backward. "It's moving," she thought out to herself. Her whiskers twitched instinctively; she felt her body trying to talk to her mind... like a warning.

"Natasha!" she opened her mouth, felt her tongue touch the roof of it to form words, and exhaled to breath the word she wanted to yell. "Aro roo!" was all she managed to bark and she cursed herself for not being able to combine the most useful human tool into her other form. Panic pricked her spine. She couldn't change now... she was too weak and may not be able to change back. But she couldn't do nothing.

Climbing up to support herself on her front two legs. Although her head begged her to lay low, she forced herself to look up; gazing out into the city now blackened by smoke, she pointed her tail out as her head pointed forward. Her back sloped downward in a crouch and her lungs filled with as much air as she could, trying to filter out any smoke that poisoned her. And when she exhaled this time...

The release of her last single drops of energy into one sound nearly caused her to collapse. She had howled only a few times before; not enough to take up two hands and only five fingers at most. It had always been in the wild as she looked up towards the full moon and that dim yellow light reminded her of the times she had seen it before... Little did she know that while it had been through the same eyes, it was with a different mind in a sense.

But this time was different. She knew now what she had to do and had more planned than just barking at a moon that would never respond with more than a dim glow. She had purpose in this one for the first time and howled as loudly as she could to reach Natasha. Her eyes closed and her call remained strong even as the floor beneath her began crumbling under her weight.

She didn't remember jumping at all, but somehow found herself standing on something solid, except, not exactly.

When Milena opened her eyes, she didn't know what to expect... if she's human or if she's something else; with the the smell of smoke filling her nose as well as her lungs and her full concentration on squishing her eyes together as hard as they can be squished, her concentration was so blurred that she couldn't exactly tell the difference between hand and paw or tail or... not?...

And then she realized that she didn't know if it's a good thing or not: that her conscious remained although her knowledge of her own form or surroundings did not.

The first thing she saw was one of her paws larger than some melons and covered in short furs. So that explained what form she was in, but what struck her as odd was how it was positioned, or rather, what it was positioned on. It seemed to be stuck on the side of the building; it appeared to be glued in. But then she realized it was because her claws were completely dug in; they were almost submerged into the sides of the building.

She looked down in between her two legs and found that her hind ones were pressed up against the side as well, but they didn't seem to be hooked in. At first, she was confused as to how it was possible. Dogs (and wolves) aren't supposed to climb like cats and certainly not stick to buildings like spiders either.

She should have fallen... But then she remembered. It occurred to her why she ended up on the side of the building, why she /had/ to. It was for survival; she was saved by some strange hybrid instinct she supposed, but she didn't let herself take the time to thank whatever strange mechanisms were working in her because she remembered the building shaking and the floor crumbling beneath her and almost taking her down. The bird heads that used to peer out into the city must have been destroyed. Then she remembers Natasha.

She had tried to say her name... but then...

As soon as she's thought of the howl she's already started another one. It's louder than the last and more animalistic in a sense. It just comes out so naturally for her that she doesn't even have to think about it; the howling continues even longer because she had stopped before...

"Uh, okay, who gave wolfie an earpiece and a mic to put in her mouth?" Tony stopped in the middle of the sky at the sound. Even behind his suit it pained his ears more than any normal sound should. "Jarvis was it you?"

"No, sir, what you're hearing is purely unassisted by enhancements" Jarvis replied in his polite voice. "however, I do believe that sound would be coming from Miss Telivola for a reason."

"Uh, oh," Tony quickly scanned over the building after hovering outwards from it to get a full view. The flames weren't going down, but he could spot some parts of the building doing so and rather quickly as well. "guys, building infrastructure is pretty compromised. Looks like she's going down in a few seconds or a minute tops. Somebody, quick, give me an update on the civilians."

"Just got the last ones put on the ground," Clint responded just as two elderly women were shuffling off the quinjet and practically shaking from fear. God, he swore that if Mr. Perfect Everything Captain America weren't there on the quinjet with him that none of the civilians would have been willing to jump on. "Tash where are you?"

"Just got the final few civilians out of some rubble and down the stairwell."

But then a loud rumble and the sound of metal scratching metal pierced all of their ears. Each and every one of them was hindered temporarily immobile as they covered their ears and curled over at the horrid sounds. Under her feet, Natasha felt a slight rumble grow into one that matched the roar of destruction in her ears. Her eyes widened in fear and any other person would have stood still completely paralyzed by the chaos happening around them, but she was quick and immediately broke out in a full-on sprint.

As she took her first leap across a pile of burning rubble and into the smoke, the floor beneath where she originally stood fell under and left a giant hole at least 10 feet in diameter. Natasha felt the ground move from under her as she tried pushing off, but she never looked back and she kept trying to make each step quicker than the last. She had to be faster.

"Quick, Nat!" Clint yelled loudly with anxiousness in his voice.

The familiar high pitches of glass breaking rang in her ears and she was sure that increasingly light feeling growing in her stomach would never end... She was falling forever, until...

Her stomach flew to her throat and she nearly choked on the hard impact her body made with the solid object she wasn't expecting. She had landed on her side on the back of something, but that something was definitely flying through the air as well. Feeling the fur under her hands, she began to wrap her arms around where she knew Milena's neck would be as her senses caught focus of where she was again: they were freefalling through the sky and beginning to tumble forward head first. Then they hit something again.

"Gotcha!"

This time it was Milena who practically bellyflopped onto the top of the quinjet and had the air taken out of her, but anything was better than free falling to their doom so she quickly got over it.

"Well that looked like a rough dismount," Tony remarked.

"Yeah it didn't feel that great either, Stark," Nat rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see.

"You're welcome though, you know, for making sure that dismount wasn't on the cement down below," Clint chimed in.  
Yeah, she owed him one. Still clutching on to Milena's thick skin, she was definitely getting mouth fulls of fur as they sped up westward above the city. If it hadn't been for the fact that they had almost died, Natasha was sure that it would have been a beautiful view to share with Milena. But then she remembered her standing on the roof; running up the steps to the very top floor with thousands of feet to the ground. Natasha instinctively held on tighter, almost aggressively, and knew when they got back that she was going to get answers.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's note: This will be the last chapter of Monster's Like Us, but DON'T WORRY I HAVE PLANS FOR A SEQUEL. Please leave me a review and I hope you join me for the next installment when it comes out soon.

Milena was relieved that Fury was somewhere in Borneo. With him gone, the team leader baton was passed down to Steve (much to Tony's annoyance which they always heard about), and she would much rather face Mr. Soft Blue Eyes and Sprinkles than hear all hell break loose under Fury.

She didn't know how to deny it... She was suicidal...

Whatever the entire team had gathered around for; whether it was an interrogation, group therapy, or an intervention, she didn't need mutant hyper senses to feel everyone's eyes staring at her when she walked in.

Steve sat at the head of the table with has hands awkwardly placed in front of him, but he didn't seem angry. In his mind he argued the best way to bring up such a serious subject, but he found himself confused as he finally looked up into those pair of hurt yellow eyes that shied away from his and his heart hurt. He wanted to call her name; to pull her into a hug and make the pain go away, but he had a job to do as well.

"Agent Telivola," he addressed her. "It has come to our attention that.. you might pose a risk towards your own safety..."

Her blank face that stared at him broke into a grim grin and the laugh she let out brought chills down every single person's spine in the room. As she laughed amongst the silence around the table, Steve could see his teammates itching to speak up as they sat in awe at what Milena was doing right in front of them. Natasha furrowed her brows: Something small that she let pass by her normally controlled facial expression as the girl in front of her seemed to be breaking down.

"Kid," Tony finally spoke up with sadness in his eyes. "We're worried about you. We can't even explain-"

"Wait, hold on, I'm sorry," Milena silenced her laughter, but that strange smile still sat on her face as Steve curled his fingers in. "Who here /isn't/ a danger to themselves, huh?"

It was a rhetorical question none of the Avengers dared to answer. All they could do was stare at her sadly and plead with their eyes for her not to continue on, but it was too late.

"Or, better yet, who here hasn't tried? Who here hasn't wanted just to... just to end it, just to end everything after they hurt someone? Okay, who? After you hurt someone you love-" she cut herself off and turned away. But before she looked away, they all caught a familiar glimmering in her eyes from being watered by tears.

Bruce sat next to Steve nearly tearful himself. Yes, he had tried. He had tried so many times. But to see this poor girl he had come to care for like a sister think that she was a monster? He couldn't understand. And he wanted to hurt himself for knowing that the pain he experienced with his other identity overtook her thoughts as well. He knew what it was like to drown and it broke his heart to see her sink under so fast... and without wanting to be rescued.

Natasha was the first to get to her and no one would have guessed otherwise anyway. In a split second, gone was her professional and put-together composure as she wrapped her arms around the little brunette and kissed the top of her head. She whispered something in her ear; then Milena seemed to nod before Natasha looked up to her team and gave them mournful look. It was the closest most of them had ever seen her come to breaking down, but she knew she had to remain strong for Milena.

The sobbing from Milena's mouth half-opened in a silent scream filled the room as the redhead gestured for the hawk to come over. Everyone around the table felt their breaths disapparate from their mouths as they watched the young girl that had touched all of their hearts start to fall apart. No matter how hard Natasha seemed to comfort her, she was still falling apart and it broke them all. Clint walked quietly up to the couple and Natasha gave him a nod from the corner of her eyes and seemed to wrap her arms around the brunette tighter when the archer regretfully placed his fingers behind her ears and just above her neck and pushed in firmly. Milena kicked slightly in Natasha's hold and a loud whimper escaped from her lips before her whole body went limp. Natasha's eyes were closed, but everyone could practically see the pain behind her closed lids; it was the same pain they felt as their hearts raced with anxiety.

"I'm taking her back to her room," the assassin stated simply before picking up her mate bridal style into her strong arms. "She'll be awake in about an hour, but I don't think full-frontal confrontation with the whole team was a good idea." And Steve didn't think he had more capacity to feel more pain than he already was until Natasha shot a quick glare at him and guilt panged through his body.

"Nat," he called, standing up from the table as she pushed the door open and started carrying Milena out. "Nat, please listen!"

Even though she was carrying another human being in her arms, the spy was still quick enough to dodge the super soldier for a few yards down the hallways and past corners. The soldier was trying desperately to stay at a normal human pace for walking as he chased the red hair flying by every corner it turned and that he barely missed. "Please!"

"No, Rogers!" When she finally whipped around to face him he could have sworn that her face was redder than her hair. "You're going to listen to me, okay? Do you want to lose her? Huh?" Steve answered with a look of shameful guilt on his face and his eyes stung at her rhetorical question. "Because you sure are acting like you want to with gathering everyone around her for some sort of intervention like she's an alcoholic or a drug-addict."

"Natasha, please, I never-"

"No! Steve, shut up! She's suicidal, okay? She wanted to kill herself, Steve, she wanted to end her life."

"Natasha-"

"I said be quiet!"

"Please-"

"No!"

"Natasha!" another voice called her name in a sharp tone from behind him. Clint had sincere, but stern look on his face as the two turned around to see him behind them. "We all have a job to do; you know that. And you know Steve would never want to hurt her, Natasha, we all care for her we all do-"

"Then why did she want to die!?"

The raw emotion of hurt and frustration in her voice shocked both of them. She had never been so out of control before, so... human. But the cold, Russian heart that everyone thought was permanently freezed over had been unthawing since the day she had met the girl she hugged tighter to her body and had replaced it with wildfire she spat at the two of them.

Steve shook his head slowly. "I don't know, Natasha... I don't know, but I wish I knew."

Clint cautiously walked up to her, his partner, and knew the distress on her face had been held inside of her for too long. They were all frustrated, but Natasha especially, and Clint knew her well enough to know that she would take it out on the people around her after a while. "Let's put her to bed, okay?" he asked her in a very calm voice.

"Ok," she nodded slowly, soon coming to her senses.

Clint didn't think he'd ever seen her so defensive before.

She felt her chest on her back as she inhaled and exhaled at a very slow tempo before her eyes even opened. That scent surrounded her again... lavender, cinnamon, vanilla... blood...

A moan escaped from the redheaded angel that had captured her when she turned over on her side so that she faced her. Although she was sleeping, her face contorted in a strange way as if she were in pain and another moan came from her lips, worrying Milena. She studied the way her brows furrowed inwards, leaving small lines in between them and she sighed to herself. Blinking a few times, the brunette hesitantly nudged her head forward so that their foreheads met and she placed a single kiss on the top of Natasha's nose. Then, her face relaxed a bit and the brunette allowed her eyes to close as well.

As soon as their heads had touched, a swarm of alien thoughts had seemed to shift into Milena's own mind instantly. She couldn't explain it, but Natasha's pain that she saw on her face somehow made sense to her in a second and her head became heavy with the weight of the thoughts inside of her head at once. It was a hot banging in the side of her temples that raced towards her heart where it started pounding harder. But even though this unfamiliar feeling frightened her, she somehow knew that it was connected to Natasha and forced herself to relax as she let her emotions expose themselves to her.

Her heart skipped a beat as an image of Natasha flashed in her head... she was on the edge of the building... she was going to jump. Milena's yellow eyes instantly flew open as water had already started to flood them and they shook uncontrollably as she tried to blink her tears out of the way so that she could clearly see Natasha still in front of her... still in her arms... Was that the pain she had felt when she stood on the edge? It had seized her whole body all of a sudden and it frightened her, but was more terrifying was the idea of losing the woman she was trying to hold onto and so she let the tears flow freely with her emotions.

Next she felt all of the pain Natasha had carried as she carried Milena while she slept. She could feel her hands tightening their grip around her body as Natasha felt signs of danger and instinctively protected her. Another tear escaped from her eye, but she didn't care now. She was too engrossed with the feeling of despair that had overcome her partner after she had admitted that she was suicidal... It was like she was suddenly realizing what that had done to her on a an emotional level. All of Natasha's thoughts and pains surged through Milena's mind and as she took them all in, she sniffled as her nose began to run from her crying, which woke up the redhead in front of her.

Natasha had instantly pulled away when she woke up... spy reflexes Milena supposed. "Milena..." she gasped in surprise as the brunette also sat up. She didn't give her a chance to speak as she grabber her shoulders and pulled her body into hers.  
"Wha-" Natasha gasped as their heads collided again.

"Just feel," Milena pleaded with her. "I want you to feel this, please..."

The spy's body had instantly felt warmer when she felt her forehead resting on hers. The sensation that overtook her was a foreign one... it wasn't her own, yet she felt like she was supposed to be feeling whatever emotions were stirring up inside of her now. She couldn't help but melt just a bit when she swore she could hear Milena's voice telling her to relax.

"What's going on?" Natasha wondered silently in her mind.

"It's okay," Milena's voice sounded in her head as an unexpected reply.

"How? How it this-"

"Natasha, please, it's okay."

"I can hear you, Milena."

"I know... And I can hear you," the brunette opened her eyes and she saw the familiar yellow glow that warmed her face as she smiled at her. "I could feel what you were feeling too... the pain..."

"This is crazy... but I don't want it to stop."

"Neither do I," Milena silently confessed as Natasha smiled back at her slightly, not believing what was going on between them.

"Milena... I don't want to lose you."

"You're not," the brunette reassured her as she pressed her head against hers with a little more pressure... a little more intensity. "I think when I opened myself up to death, you saved me."

Natasha's mouth opened slightly as she felt a pool of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I've latched onto you, Natasha..."

Natasha broke into an even bigger smile as her partner sent over waves of assurance and happiness her way. In that moment, she couldn't tell how, but she knew that Milena would be fine and that she would be safe. "Milena..."

"And us wolves mate for life..."

Her eyebrows raised at that comment, but she didn't shy away from the brunette as she leaned forward even more and her soft locks seemed to curtain their faces from the world as they became one.  
"I love you so much Milena. I want you forever."

"I love you too," she replied silently, yet Natasha bursted into laughter as she finally broke their connection to attack her lips.

She wondered how it was possible for someone to taste so sweet as Natasha slowly molded her lips around hers and gently bit her bottom lip. Milena's heart started racing as she let her hand travel up from her shoulders and to her neck as she braced herself against the redhead who kissed her passionately. She let her hands comb through those red curls and let her need for Natasha take over all of her senses as she parted her lips slightly and let her tongue explore the depths of her mouth now.

And those moans she let out against her mouth made her even hungrier. Milena kissed back a little harder and that was all Natasha needed to increase the pace and soon the brunette was on her back looking up into the green eyes of the woman she loved. "I love you," Natasha said aloud in just a whisper.

"I love you too."

They had lost all feeling of time as they let themselves explore each other's bodies that night. Feeling Natasha's light kisses on her neck as she slowly moved down to her shoulders and her spine made her shiver slightly, but never because she was scared. The way that they melted so easily into one another left them both sweating like dogs as Milena rested her head under Natasha's chin and let herself listen to her heartbeat.

"I'm not leaving I promise."

"Me either."

Now Milena placed soft kisses on her neck, making her moan with hunger for more. Smiling at the effect she had on her, she placed a special kiss on her collarbone before she moved further. She could feel her hands running down her back as well; her fingernails digging into her skin slightly, but not enough to hurt her. The way she let her hands rest on the side of her hips excited her as she lowered her head down towards her stomach and paid homage to her flat abs that tickled underneath her.

Suddenly, Natasha flipped her over so she was on top and placed herself in the same position she had been in. Milena's heart raced as she slowly got lower and lower, until she met that bundle of nerves that no one had ever touched before and she let out a gasp as Natasha's plump lips pecked it gently.

"Natasha!" she let out of her lips as she felt her moving down there. Everything was running wild within her and her sense had heightened even more than usual so with every kiss and touch Natasha gave her, she felt her heart beating faster and the coil in her stomach warming up and tightening in her lower abdomen. Everything felt perfect. Everything felt right.

Afterwards, they laid in each others arms and Natasha slowly let her head touch Milena's as the sun began to daw through their window. "I'm never leaving," she thought into both of their minds as she felt Milena drifting off to sleep.

"Me neither," the brunette's last thought warmed the assassin's heart before they both fell into a peaceful sleep while holding onto each other.


	15. Sequel

Here's the beginning half of the first chapter for my upcoming sequel Avengers Like Us. It takes place during Age of Ultron and it brings back the whole gang including Milena and Thor. Please, please, please check it out if you enjoyed this fic because I plan to make it ten times better and I'd really appreciate it. Be on the lookout for it soon!

The wind blew her dark curls in front of her face, but even as they blinded her sight temporarily, she still caught a whiff from the wind traveling just under her nose. The smell was so familiar. Sokovia was the closest she'd been back to Ukraine and the forest's smells and sounds around them were all too similar to what she remembered. It felt weird to be standing on two legs, yet she knew those monsters of her past had to be set aside for now. They had work to do.

"What do you mean you're leaving me in the truck alone?" Clint whined at Natasha as he was loading the vehicle with supplies, ammunition, extra arrows….

"I've got my own ride Barton," she smirked at Clint before turning to her. Oh, Natasha… Why was it that one look from her made Milena's mind get gushy and her feelings soft? To say she had fallen was an understatement as she opened her arms up to embrace the wild redhead and felt the warmth of the back of her neck on her palm as she held them together. Their foreheads met in the middle and they smiled while gazing into each other's eyes before letting them close with full faith that they were both safe with each other.

"Are you ready?" Natasha silently told Milena through her thoughts.

"I'm ready to get this over with so I can have you to myself," she responded playfully.

She heard Natasha laugh in her head. "What happened to the little shy girl I met all those months ago who was afraid of her own shadow?"

"She fell in love…." Milena opened her eyes and smile before placing a quick peck on Natasha's plump lips. They were always so sweet to her and she had to hold back from smiling too wide as she noticed Clint watching them with a mischievous eye.

"Hey ladies, save it for the locker room," he said teasingly while climbing into the truck's front.

"Oh, you know I will," Natasha winked at Milena before nudging her head to the side, suggesting her that it was time.

All she had to do was leap forward and before she touched the ground her hands had grown into paws ten times bigger and her face protruded forward as she felt her nose shifting forwards, her eyes sharpening, and her mouth opening as her teeth grew. The hairs on her back shivered in the cold as she realized there was snow on the ground, but that only added to the formidable face she gave Clint as she showed him her teeth from behind her snarled mouth in an amusing warning that made Natasha laugh. She growled slightly, but playfully, before allowing the archer to pat her head as she came up beside his truck and knelt down slightly.

"That's my girl," Natasha beamed at how fierce she'd become before throwing herself up onto the giant wolf that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the forest.

"Romanoff, Barton, Telivola, are we in the clear?" the three suddenly heard Steve's voice in their ears.

"All set Rogers. We've got a direct route from the southwest position. Rendezvous in twenty seconds?"

"Yeah, if you can keep up," Tony's voice laughed next. "I saw Fluffy digging into the Cocoa Puffs this morning and you know dog's aren't supposed to eat chocolate."

Milena growled and her shoulders tensed before Natasha rubbed behind her ear. "Oh, you're really getting it after this is all over, Stark," she warned him.

"Great," he said smartly just as Milena could hear his thrusters revving up about five miles northeast of them. "Anyone wanna place any bets?"

"Mine's on Telivola,"Clint admitted without hesitation.

"Same," agreed Natasha.

"Hmmm," Thor chirped in from his position. The Asgardian had only recently arrived, but Milena knew from meeting him the first time that he didn't see her as a monster and that comforted her. Thor was, well, strange, but very open-minded for someone as old as he was… They had so many conversations about Asgard and he'd told her that she would love the Rainbow Bridge. He'd said that she could run it to her heart's content. "I would love to see this battle between Stark and our lady of the wolves… I will wager a hundred tarts of pop on Telivola!"

"Ah, c'mon guys," Tony whined. "No one at all believes in me?"

"I'd like to believe that you could remember why we're here," Steve criticized their side conversation. "Hulk?"

"RAAAAHHHHHH!" they could all hear the other guy beat his chest from a distance

"Alright… on my mark…. Three, two…"

Her hind legs extended from their contracted position in an instant as she shot off like a bullet into the depths of the forest at top speed. Even though she was technically a canine, she flashed a very human-like smile as she glanced back and saw Clint struggling to accelerate as fast as she had with his tires bumping up and over tree roots and hills.

"RAAAAAAAAAAHH!" the Hulk's roars suddenly grew louder as the green monster flung himself in front of the two while taking out a squad of soldiers that had been gradually approaching. Her legs began pumping harder against the snow on the ground and she saw Hulk casually ripping up a few men from the ground and they neared the summit of the base.

She easily dodged the puny bullets that flew past her as the familiar sound of Thor's hammer shot through the air above them and the Asgardian could be seen throwing strikes of lightning down bellow onto helpless Hydra soldiers.

Not far up ahead, Cap slid on his motorcycle and dragged a poor fellow beside him as his body practically shred into pieces from the friction on the forest floor. Throwing him off carelessly, he belted down hills and through trees while dodging the enemy's blue beams with ease.

Clint's truck was now nearing them as another truck was launched just above his by the Hulk who was literally tearing through any person he saw. Milena felt a hard nudge by her ribs from Natasha digging her heels into her side; she was telling her to slow down just a bit. As the wolf trotted up a hill to decelerate, the widow made her side aerial dismount off her back and landed on the shoulders of a Hydra soldier who was soon taken down.

Now Tony was flying close to the ground near all of them as they all came upon the same clearing in the forest where a couple of soldiers were defending a small fence. As the wolf flew through the air with her teammates on each of her sides, she was sure that they had just got the money shot before she sunk her teeth into a soldier she landed on.

Man she loved her job.


End file.
